Chronicles of a Real Jedi Knight
by Ben-Max
Summary: A young man from our world wakes up one morning to find himself in Luke's Jedi Academy STORY COMPLETE!
1. The Awakening

CHRONICLES OF A REAL JEDI KNIGHT

_An unhappy teenage boy from our own world wakes up one morning to find himself in the Star Wars universe. Not only that, but it's the first day of his training as a Jedi Knight in Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. But just how powerful of a Jedi Knight could someone possibly that has never lived in a world with the Force?_

**-The Awakening-**

"Hey, Star Wars boy! Where's your lightsaber?" Suddenly, my books were knocked out of my hands and fell onto the floor. Paper from the books spilt out all over the place. Somebody else walking by stepped on the Star Wars novel I had just gotten, leaving a shoe print on the cover.

I spun around with a glare and my fist clenched. _Josh. What the hell did I ever do to him?_

Josh turned around and walked away laughing. _Damn, that guy's an asshole. I know I could kick his ass. He's still not too far away_...

I took a few steps in the direction he went, but stopped. _No, don't do it. He's not worth your time. Fighting him isn't going to solve anything. Just make things a whole lot worse._

Slowly, my temper melted away and I bent down to pick up my books and papers. It was just before 7th hour in school on a Thursday. _This week is finally almost over, then I can get away from these people and not have to deal with anyone's shit for two whole days._

By the way, my name's Ben, if you were wondering that up till now. I was in my senior year of high school at that time. Just trying to live day to day without too much trouble.

I never really understood why I was such a famous target for all of these jerkoffs. I was in pretty good shape. Not a bodybuilder by any means. As far as looks went, there were a lot of people worse off than me. I noticed that a lot of them were the people who gave me crap.

I figured it had to be because most of my life I was so short for my age. By my senior year, I finally had my growth spurt and was as tall as most of the people in the school. But the reputation for being short was still with me. I guess it was also because I'm not the type to fight. I'm not scared to; I just don't believe in it as an answer to life's problems.

My only escape from all this crap was Star Wars. I became a fan forever the day the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition came out in theatres. I absolutely lost myself in its wonderment. Its magic. The story of a young man who hated where he was and wanted to get out. Who had feelings and emotions inside of him no one else seemed to have or even understand. Not even himself. That world seemed to make so much more sense than my own. Whenever I needed to escape life's bullshit, I would watch the movies, listen to the soundtracks, or just read one of the books in the Expanded Universe. Now that that's out of the way, how about we get back to the story at hand?

I had just gotten my books gathered up and walked to my 7th hour class, Algebra III with my teacher nicknamed, "The General." And damn, did she earn that nickname. I was just about to put a foot into the classroom when the bell rang. She came in a few seconds after I did. _Well, she was late too. Besides, I was practically in the room when the bell rang_...

The whole class quieted down and I had just set my books onto my desk and was halfway through sitting down when The General said, "Ben, this is your third tardy. And that means detention. Why were you late?"

"Maybe it's the same reason _you_ were late." The silence in the classroom intensified, if that was possible. Everyone looked at me. They were surprised that anyone would talk back to "The General." I didn't mean to say it out loud. It just kind of came out. I was still a little pissed about having my books knocked out of my hand.

"What did you say to me??"

"Uh, I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"Go to the principal's office! Now!"

"But there's a test today. Can I get a chance to make that up?"

"No. You'll be getting a zero for it. Go."

"But that's not fair! I've been getting all A's in this class. This late in the semester, I'll never be able to make up for it."

"You should've thought of that before you talked back to me. Go!" She meant business, and it was obvious that there was nothing I could do.

I picked up my books and walked out of the classroom. _It's bad enough having to put up with shit in school when it's just the students. Now the faculty? Still an hour and a half to go_...

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After the final bell of school rang, I was at my locked putting my 8th hour books away and taking out the books I'd need for homework over the weekend.

"Hey, Ben!"

I turned my head and smiled at Matt, one of the few people in the school who didn't hate me on a regular basis. Also, a fellow Star Wars fan. He was the type that was made fun of a lot too. The only difference was that with him, it was easier to see why. He was about as tall as I was. Maybe a little taller, but a lot thinner than me. He also usually had some pimple on his face that made you want to yell, _"Pop the damn thing!" _He wasn't exactly what I would call a friend, since we never really hung out or talked outside of school, but he made things more tolerable.

"Did you finish reading _The Unifying Force_ yet?"

"Yeah. I finished it during 7th hour in the Principal's office."

"I heard about that." Matt began to smirk. "You actually talked back to 'The General?'"

"It's not like I set out to do that. Josh had just knocked my books out of my hand, and it took all my self-control not to put him in traction. Being marked late from a teacher who was more late that I was, just put me over the edge."

"I know what you mean."

_Somehow, I doubt that very much, Matt._

After a moment of awkward silence Matt shrugged and said, "Well, I'll see you on Monday." He turned around and walked away.

"Yeah. I'll see you Monday." Little did I know how wrong that was.

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I went to sleep that night and had one of the strangest dreams I remembered having. I was running down a large hallway with another guy about my age. I was running faster than I ever thought I could. I was even leaping high into the air and doing all of these incredible acrobatic things. There were even these large football-sized creatures that looked like bugs buzzing and zooming at us, trying to knock us down.

Soon me and this other guy reach the end of the hallway and run out of a door that leads to the outside. Before we have even taken three steps outside the whole building we were in blows up and fire begins to shoot out the door we came through. The impact of the explosion lifts both of us into the air.

Just as I hit the ground, I woke up. But I wasn't in my bed anymore. I wasn't even in my own room. I was in a room that was a little bit bigger. _What the hell is going on?_

I got up and went to the door. I reached for the knob..._where the hell's the doorknob? _I looked around, but only small a panel that had three buttons in it. A blue one, a red one, and a green one.

I tried the blue one first, but I only heard this clicking sound. _Must be a lock or something._

Then I tried the red one, but I only heard a small hiss and then a soft thud. _I guess that's to close the door._

That only left one option left. _With my luck, it would be the last one I try._

I pushed the green button and the door opened with a hiss. _Man, that's like the doors in the Star Wars movies._

I walked out into a long stretched hallway paved in stone. As I turned a corner I wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into someone. We bumped heads and both fell over backward. I began to rub my forehead. _Well, bra-vo Ben. You're at some new place two minutes and you already establish yourself as an idiot!_

It wasn't until I got up that I actually saw the person I had bumped into. "Oh my God! You're Harrison Ford!"

The man had a confused look on his face. "Kid, I've been recognized a lot in my life, but this is the first time I've ever been recognized as someone else. The name is Han Solo...remember?"

_For an actor who's hated to be remembered for that role, he's definitely acting a little weird_. "Oh...kay..."

"You're acting a little strange, Ben. I'll bet you're just a little nervous about beginning your training."

"My...my what?"

"Your Jedi training. It's understandable. So I've heard."

"Wait...me? A Jedi Knight?"

"You feeling all right? The first session doesn't begin for about another hour, but I think Luke's down there already. He should check you out. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To the Throne Room. Luke will be there by now."

"Luke Skywalker? Jedi Master Luke Skywalker?"

"...Yeah. Come on."

Not knowing quite what else to do, I just followed him.

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As I stepped into the Throne Room, I took it all in. _Oh my God, this is the room from the final scene in Star Wars! I can't believe I'm walking down the Throne room with Han Solo!_

"Hey, Luke! Someone's here to see you."

Luke turned around and smiled at me. "Hi, Ben. Good to see you again. Are you looking forward to starting your training?" I stood there unable to speak. Luke smile turned into a look of concern. "Ben, is something wrong?"

"No, there's nothing wrong. I just can't believe I'm standing in front of Mark Hamill." I shut my eyes and thought. _No, no, no! Idiot! Star Wars! Star Wars! He has no idea who Mark Hamill is!_

"Mark Hamill?" Luke was puzzled by this and looked questioningly to Han.

"Don't look at me, Luke. When we bumped into each other this morning, he called me...Harrison Ford, I think it was."

"Ben, is everything all right?"

_All things considered, I think I'm doing _remarkably_ well. But I do feel a little funny. Not the same way in my own world, anyway. I don't feel bad or sick. Just different. _"Well, I do feel strange. It's like...things are really in focus. If I stare hard enough at something, I feel I can almost see through it."

Luke smiled and nodded. "Welcome to the world of the Jedi Knights, Ben."

"I'm really going to be a Jedi Knight?"

Luke smiled a little bigger. "Of course. That is, if you're feeling all right. If you like, you can rest today and start tomorrow."

I spoke up right away. "No! I'm all right. I want to start today...Master Skywalker."

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_I can't believe I'm training to be a Jedi Knight! _I looked around at the other students sitting around. There were aliens of all kinds all around me. Rodians, Wookiees, Bothans, even a Gungan and some others that I couldn't identify. Of course there were also other humans.

What was really weird was that since I had gotten here, there was almost never a time when I met a girl that wouldn't look at me with a really funny expression. _What's with the girls here? Are they all like this when they meet someone?_

Master Skywalker came up to the top of the stage and the whole chamber fell silent. He looked at all of the students with a very warm smile. "Welcome to the Jedi Academy. There is a lot of diversity in this room. But you all have a common link. The Force touches and runs through each one of you. You have all heard the call and responded to it. The Force is the connection of life to all living things. We are the guardians of the Force and every living thing that it touches. Together and individually, you will all grow in its ways and find out who you are.

"The first step you will all take is learning to feel the Force around yourselves. Because you cannot defend others until you learn how the Force touches you. Then you will learn to use it by raising small objects. You will all start with a feather and move your way up from there.

"I will teach you all that I can, but there are many things that you must find and discover within yourselves. After I teach you all that I can, what you do after that is up to you."

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I went back to my new room after the speech. I sat down onto the stone floor and began the meditating exercises that we were taught. _I've been studying the Jedi Knights for years now. I probably have as good an understanding of the Force as any full Jedi Knight!_

I took out my feather and put it on the floor in front of me. I began to look at the feather and feel the energy between us. I felt the Force around the feather. Through my mind, I commanded the feather to rise into the air. It rose up without almost any effort.

I rose it up to eye level and smiled. _The Force is real! _For a little extra practice and I rose it further up and dipped it. I sent it all around my room. I put my hand out palm up and used the Force to float it into my hand.

I was startled by the sound of clapping in the doorway. I turned my head and saw a young man about my age. He was smiling and came into my room. "You're pretty good, Ben. It took me a while to be able to do telekinesis that well."

"Uh...thanks." I searched my mind trying to remember what Jedi would be about my age at this time. "Jacen?"

Jacen laughed. "That sounded like a question."

Trying to cover, I laughed too. "Yeah, I suppose it did." I rose to my feet and we shook hands.

"It's good to see you again, Ben. Uncle Luke told me you were acting a little strange this morning and I thought I'd come by and see."

"I'm all right. I guess it was just nervous tension. You know, starting my training and all."

"That makes sense." Jacen became more serious. "Ben, I have a little advice for you. It occurred to me when you were startled by my clapping while you moved the feather with the Force. If you had truly been absorbed in the Force, you never would've been startled. You would've already known that I was in the doorway. You have great control with the Force, but you also have to remember not to shield yourself away from your surroundings."

_I can't believe now I'm getting Jedi advice from my favorite Expanded Universe character! _"I'll remember that. Uh, Jacen. This is going to sound strange, but...how do we know each other. You see, I woke up this morning and for some reason, I couldn't remember."

Jacen smirked and said, "What is that, some kind of joke?"

"No, I'm serious."

"Okay, I'll play along. After I was captured and held prisoner by the Yuuzhan Vong, I was put into a prison with you. We were the only ones in there for a long time, so we got to know each other. After not too long, I could sense that you had abilities in the Force. We escaped together and after the war ended, I took you to my uncle and you were accepted for training. Which leads us up to today."

"Oh...right. Well, thanks."

"Anytime." Nodding good-bye, Jacen turned around and left me alone in my room again.

_Well, I suppose that explains the dream that I had. It was of my escape from imprisonment with Jacen. Hmm_..._it doesn't exactly answer a lot of questions, but it's a start._

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I got up early the next morning. I wanted to do a morning run through Yavin before my next class. _If I'm going to be a Jedi Knight, I better be in good shape._

I decided to only do a two-mile run. That was a basic run for students just starting out at the Academy. Since I never really ran a lot, this seemed like a reasonable place to start.

Everything was okay going through my first mile, but after that, it was all down hill. I felt the muscles in my legs begin to burn and my heart was pounding so hard in my chest, it hurt. But I was determined to finish the run.

As the Academy came back into sight, I felt a small second wind coming back to me and put everything I could into this last sprint. Finally I reached the steps of the temple and tumbled down onto them.

I was breathing very hard and had sweat dripping off of my face. I wiped my hand over my forehead and rubbed the sweat on my pant leg. I sat there for a few minutes, until I had enough energy back to walk up the steps and into my room so I could take a shower.

I turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the hot water massage my aching muscles. After I was clean, I just stood there for several minutes more before I stepped out and dried off.

By the time I put my clothes back on, I had all my energy back so I jogged to the lift that took me down to the main level of the Academy. As I stepped into the cafeteria for breakfast and got into line, a thought occurred to me. _I have no idea what kinds of food they have here. I don't know what's good or what's even for humans._

Finally, I reached the table of food and looked around at everything. After looking around, I just picked something. It was what looked like a purple wafer wrapped up in what looked like some kind of meat. _Well, this doesn't look like it could kill me_...

I picked it up and put it on my tray. I walked along the cafeteria until I found an empty table and sat down. I picked up my fork and cut off a piece of my food. I put it up close to my mouth and held it there for a while. I had my water ready in my hand. At least, I hoped it was water.

Quickly, I put it into my mouth, but hadn't worked up the courage to chew yet. Slowly, I took one chew of the bite. _Hmm_..._Not bad. It kind of tastes like a pancake rolled in sausage. I think I'll just go ahead and eat this for breakfast as long as I'm here. I got lucky once and I don't feel like jinxing it._

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Two weeks went by and as Master Skywalker gave us lesson after lesson, I was the first student to get the hang of it. As time went on, I got a little bored with going so slowly. It was all so tedious and really grated my nerves. Looking back on it, I think I was feeling the beginning effects of arrogance and impatience. I began to also stop feeling like myself.

One morning while we were all sitting in the throne room waiting for our class to start, I looked around at everyone. _What am I doing with these people? I should with a class further along. Or going faster._

Master Skywalker came in and walked to the front of the class. He waited a beat before he spoke. "Good morning all. Since you have started here, I've been teaching you about the Force and using it for the good of others. But this is only one-sided. There is another side to the Force. A Dark Side. As you begin to grow into your powers, you'll all hear its call. You must never use its power."

A small hand in the front of the classroom rose up and a small human boy asked, "But how will we know when it's the Dark Side or the Light Side?"

_Oh, god! _I stood up and looked at the boy saying, "Using the Dark Side of the Force is when you fight with emotions like anger, fear, aggression, or hatred. If your actions benefit the greater good, it's the Light Side. If your actions Benefit only you, it's the Dark Side."

Master Skywalker looked at me with a face of concern and controlled annoyance. "Yes, Ben. You are correct. But from now on, I would appreciate it if you would allow me to answer my own students."

"I'm sorry, Master Skywalker. But I feel like I'm not being challenged anymore. I understand about the Dark Side and know all that I need to know."

"If you understand it so much, then how come you're using one of its most tempting and powerful allies?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Impatience, Ben. Impatience is what will cause a Jedi to act and do things that they are not ready for. This can endanger their own lives and the lives of those they wish to help. But I don't want to delay the other students' time. We'll talk about this after class."

When class was over, I got up and began to walk over to Master Skywalker. Some of the students I'd walk close to would walk in a big arc around me. Some with looks of puzzlement. Some with looks of fear. _Great. I was an outcast in my world and I'm an outcast here. There were just some people who weren't meant to be liked._

The last of the students left and I was standing in front of Master Skywalker. As he looked at me, I felt myself deflate a bit. "Is there something you'd like to talk to me about, Ben?"

"I just think that I should be moving faster. Every time we learn a new lesson, I'm always the first student to master it. Then I have to sit back and wait. I feel like my training is being limited."

"I understand how you feel, Ben—"

"No, you don't! I'm sorry, Master Skywalker. You're the most powerful Jedi Master in the galaxy and I have more respect for you than anyone else. But this is something that you don't understand. You were trained one on one with Master Yoda."

"I guess I can accept that. It's true that I didn't have other students to get in the way of my learning from Master Yoda. But I also didn't have as detailed training as all of you are getting. My training was rushed and left large holes for me to figure out on my own. This could have limited my power, but I didn't allow that to happen. I studied without my master at my side and figured things out for myself. Things that Master Yoda couldn't teach me. You can take your extra time to learn to master your skills."

"But I _have_ mastered them!"

Master Skywalker's eyebrows lifted and he nodded a few times. "Have you? You mastered in a matter of weeks what took other Jedi Masters years to do?" My confidence deflated a bit more and I hesitated before I nodded. Master Skywalker nodded again. "Very well. How about a little test?" He turned his back on me and grabbed something. He turned around holding a long metal rod in each hand. He gave me one and kept the other.

He pulled a feather out of a pouch on his belt and held it up. "You remember the first lesson we did. Raising the feather."

"Yeah, I remember. I got it on my first try. Telekinesis is one of my specialties."

Master Skywalker dropped the feather and smiled. "Raise it now, then."

As I began to feel the Force around the feather to lift it up, Master Skywalker swung his metal rod at me. I quickly brought mine up and blocked it. But he wasn't done yet. He took some more swings at me. "Come on, Ben. Raise the feather. If you have mastered telekinesis, this should be no problem."

I tried to split my focus to keep track of what Master Skywalker was going to do next and raising the feather, but I couldn't do it. I could only focus on either one or the other. "I...can't...do it."

After a few seconds, Master Skywalker backed off. He lowered his metal rod and took mine out of my hand and dropped it to the floor. "To master something, means to know every facet of it. To be able to do it, do matter what else is going on. You are a very talented student, Ben. You will master these things, but it'll take work...and time."

I continued to stare at the stone floor under my boots. "Yes, Master Skywalker."

"Ben, look at me." When I did, he continued. "I didn't do this to try and 'humiliate you' or 'put you in your place.' It was necessary to show you that you still have a lot to learn. Take my advice. Enjoy your time here. Once you leave here and become a Jedi Knight, you will know little rest. As a Jedi, I can see that you will do great things, but a Jedi seldom gets the credit or approval that they deserve."

Master Skywalker began to leave the room, but turned around again to face me. "If you would like some extra lessons to make things more challenging, I will. But only after you've accomplished the goals set for the rest of the class. Never before."

I nodded and he turned around to leave again. But just as he reached the door, he turned around again and said as what seemed like an afterthought, "Oh. And when the time comes, I think you'll be very talented with a lightsaber. I look forward to seeing it."

He turned around to leave and this time, he did. I just stood there in the throne room by myself for a while. Thinking about all that he had told me. For the rest of my training, I never forgot that day when Master Skywalker humbled me and then brought me to a new level of power.

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Another week went by when I really started to feel my stamina improve. I was still on the two-mile runs, but I wasn't nearly as tired when I did them. _I can feel myself getting more powerful as the days go by. I'm really feeling like Jedi Knight now._

As I made my way into the clearing of the jungle and the Academy came in sight, I noticed someone sitting on the steps. _Most of the students never get up this early. The only ones who do are the people who work here. I wonder who that is?_

The closer I got, the more in focus the person became and soon I realized it was Master Skywalker. I reached the steps and wiped away the small amount of sweat that had built up on my face. "Good morning, Master Skywalker."

He nodded and said, "Good morning, Ben."

_Something's wrong_..."There's something wrong, Master Skywalker. I can tell."

"Well, there might not be. I see you alone a lot, Ben. You've been here for about two months now. Have you made any friends here, yet?"

I wasn't expecting a question like that, so I flustered for a few seconds, trying to think of the best thing to say. "Well, no. But what's that got to do with anything? I thought the point of my being here was to become a Jedi. Not to make friends."

"Yes, that's the main reason you're here, but it's important for all of you to become friends with one another. Ben, you're the best new student I have right now. I can't think of any student I've ever had that's learned things as fast as you have. This has made you pretty popular with the other students."

Getting a little defensive, I curtly replied, "I talk to them."

"Ben, I've noticed the way you talk to them. You'll be walking down the hall and the moment another student starts walking up the other way, you instantly put your head down. They'll say hello to you and you quietly say hi back and keep on walking. They all want to be your friend, but if you keep on acting this way, they'll stop liking you."

_Great. Now he's sounding just like everyone else who knows me. Why can't people just leave me alone? _"I don't need friends to live. I can go on just fine without them. I've already done it for eighteen years."

I had taken a couple of steps up the stairs when Master Skywalker called back up to me. "I won't be here forever, Ben. Neither will all of the other current Jedi Masters and Jedi Knights. Someday, you will all carry the responsibility of maintaining the Jedi and protecting the galaxy. In order to do this, you must all be united and come together as one."

"I understand, Master Skywalker. But I'm just not the type that makes friends very easily. Actually, I've never really had any."

"I'm not asking you to try and become the most liked student here. Just promise me you'll try and make a couple of friends. At the very least, people who you can talk to and practice some lessons with once in a while."

"Okay, Master Skywalker. I promise." I turned back around and walked up the stairs. _Great. As if the path to becoming a Jedi Knight isn't challenging enough. Now I have to try and make friends too._

That wasn't a joke. It really was practically impossible for me to find friends. But luckily, friends found me this time.

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The morning started out like any other day. I was out on my morning run. It was the first time I was running five miles. _It's so tempting to use the Force to help with the run. But I have to be able to know how to fight without it. That way, I can better help the people who don't have it as an ally._

As I was running along, someone else running along ran right into my right side and we both fell to the ground. _I have to learn to stop forgetting about the living Force._

When we both got up, I saw who ran into me. It was a girl that looked about my age. She had long dark hair and blue eyes. Before I was able to stammer out an apology and an 'Are you all right,' she yelled out, "Come on, run!" The she sprinted on.

Just as I was opening my mouth to speak, a Rodian a little bigger than me ran past, followed closely by another younger girl. I called out to them, "What is it?" Right after that, I heard loud pounding noises shaking the ground.

_Footsteps. I don't think I want to wait long enough to find out_...I began to sprint after them. Soon, I had them back in sight and I was able to turn my hear around to see what was chasing us.

I had never seen a creature like it before. It was kind of like a brontosaurus only about ¼ the size, and it had six legs. Plus, it had really sharp teeth. _I think it's safe to say that this isn't a plant-eater!_

I was able to come up with a plan a couple of minutes later. I yelled out to the group ahead of me, "Climb that tall tree over there! I can tell that this creature can't climb! Get out of reach!"

The Rodian yelled back, "Are you nuts? We don't have time! That thing's too close behind us!"

I yelled back, "I'll make the time! Do it!"

Soon after, the three of them began to help each other climb up the tree I pointed out. I turned around and using the Force, I ripped a tree out of the ground and it fell to the ground in front of the creature's path. I did this two more times.

As the creature began to run around the trees, I turned around and sprinted towards the tree they were all in. I heard the creature coming up close behind me. All three of the other students were yelling for me to hurry up.

When I got within six feet of the tree, I leapt into the air and used the Force to carry me up to the branch they were on. I grabbed at it with both hands and swung my legs up. When the creature reached the tree, it threw its front legs up, but couldn't reach us. It wasn't until I had gotten settled on the tree branch that I looked over at the group and saw the awed looks on all of their faces. "What?"

The Rodian answered, "How did you do that? Master Skywalker hasn't shown us anything like that yet!"

"Well, Master Skywalker gave me some extra lessons. As long as I'm able to hand all of my other training first and don't try and teach it to the rest of the students, he'll give me some more challenging things afterwards."

The youngest of the group spoke up, "It looks like fun."

I smirked and said, "It can be once you've gotten the hang of it. But believe me, before that..." I pulled at my shirt until my left shoulder was bare and the large scar was visible.

I saw them all wince at the scar, so I let go of my shirt and covered up the scar again. "While I was practicing a couple of days ago, my control wasn't very good and I went higher than I wanted. I hit my should into jagged part of the tree and fell fifteen feet onto the ground. Luckily, Master Skywalker caught me and softened the fall."

The Rodian smiled and said, "Well, my name is Guild. As I guess you can tell, I'm from Rodia."

The girl that ran into me looked at me and said, "My name is Tallah. I'm from Tatooine."

And the youngest girl said, "And I'm Ryndell. I'm from Corellia."

I didn't really know what to say. "Hi..." I began to feel the old me start to return. _Well, here we go. I have no idea what else to say. They'll think I'm an idiot and that'll be the end of it._

Guild asked, "You're name's Ben, right?"

"Uh...yeah."

Ryndell asked, "Where are you from?"

_Damn, how do I answer that? _"Well, I don't really have a home planet. I traveled around a lot." _I hope that's good enough for them. _"Well, the creature's gone so I guess we can go now." I stood up on the branch and jumped to the ground, using the Force to soften the fall.

I began to jog away when I heard Tallah yell out to me. "Hey, wait!" She continued as the three of them climbed down the tree. "You pretty much saved our lives and now you just act like it never happened?"

Guild jumped the rest of the way to the ground and said, "I still think I could've done something if I'd had more time."

Tallah got the ground and Guild helped Ryndell the rest of the way down. As he was helping her, she said, "Well, that doesn't matter anymore. It's over."

Tallah walked up to me and said, "A lot of us notice that you're always alone. You always eat alone, and whenever Master Skywalker excuses us to practice, you always go off to your room alone. We're all just wondering; do you just like to be by yourself?"

"Well, not exactly. It's just what I'm used to. I...never really had friends before, so I just...well, I got to a point where I gave up trying."

Tallah nodded and said, "Oh. I guess that could do it. So, do you want to get some breakfast with us?"

"Um, okay..."

Guild piped up with, "Okay, race you all to the Academy!"

Tallah groaned and said, "Oh, you only want to race because you know that you'll win, like you always do."

Ryndell smiled. "Not necessarily. He'll also be racing against the best student in the Academy." She looked at me and laughed.

"Well, I'm not sure I'm the best..."

Guild folded his arms and looked at me. "Name one student who's as good as you."

"I don't know."

Guild nodded with victory. "There. See? Come on, let's go." He ran off and then Tallah and Ryndell sprinted after him.

I hesitated for a second before I sprinted after them. As I caught up with them and passed by Guild, something occurred to me. _I don't have to be the person I was in my world. As far as they know, I'm just the best student in the Academy. It'd be nice to just once have real friends._

---------------------------------------------

As I cleared away from the jungle and hit the steps of the Academy, I turned around and saw Guild coming up close. About another ten seconds later, he made it the steps and hunched over, breathing hard.

When Tallah and Ryndell made it back, as one group, we walked into the Academy, laughing. Guild was saying how he only lost because he tripped over a rock on the ground. Ryndell taunted him saying that he just needed to accept that he wasn't the best anymore. Tallah stepped in, saying that I was already a good twenty feet ahead of him, before he tripped.

As we were walking towards the cafeteria, I saw Master Skywalker standing nearby. He smiled when he saw me with a group. I returned the smile and we all walked on to breakfast.

---------------------------------------------

That night, as I laid down in my bed, I thought what I usually did at that time. _Please, when I wake up, let me be here. If this is a dream, then I never want to wake up._

But I meant it even more than ever. Now I really had something to cling to here. Not just being a Jedi Knight, but I had friends now. _Friend. There's something about the sound of the word that can give you strength even if you're an inch from death. I don't know how I got here, or why I'm here, but whoever did it, I wish I could thank them._

I drifted off to sleep with these thoughts, but that was still something that bothered me. How did I get here? What reason am I here? And will I ever be sent back? _Maybe someday, I'll be able to answer these questions. Someday. But not today._

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...The Prophecy.


	2. The Prophecy

**-The Prophecy-**

_It is now just several days where we left off at the end of the last story. Ben hears of an ancient prophecy that he fears may be talking about him. A prophecy that tells of a Jedi's buried anger that can destroy the Jedi. If it is about him, can he destroy his anger before it destroys everything?_

I had just stepped into the throne room when Ryndell and Guild waved me over to a bench. I smiled as I made my way to where they were sitting. "Good morning, Guild. Good morning, Ryndell."

Simultaneously, they said, "Good morning, Ben."

"So where's Tallah?"

Ryndell said, "She'll be down in a little while. She's just in the middle of reading some old Jedi lore."

Guild scoffed and then snickered. "Reading all that stuff will account for nothing when you're out there saving the galaxy."

"Jedi are keepers of the peace, Guild. Not soldiers."

"And to keep the peace, we need to be in top physical form. Reading about the old Jedi won't make someone any stronger."

"Yes, but what good are all of our powers and capabilities if we don't learn how to use them properly?"

Guild just sat there not knowing quiet what to say.

Ryndell started laughing. "Checkmate."

Guild looked at her and smirked a little. "Shut up, Ryndell."

Then we all started to laugh, just as Tallah arrived to sit down with us. "What's so funny?"

Guild only had time to open his mouth before Ryndell interrupted him. "Oh, nothing really. Guild just lost another debate to Ben."

Before Guild could defend himself against that, Master Skywalker entered the Throne Room and everyone hushed up quickly. He took his place at the front of the podium. "Good morning. Today, I want to talk to all of you about a special tool I obtained years ago that allowed me to better understand the Jedi of old." He placed his hand in a pouch on his belt and pulled out a pale blue cube. "This cube holds the knowledge of thousands of Jedi Masters. The Jedi Holocron."

A hologram appeared of an old man with a long gray beard with the classic Jedi robe pulled over his head. "Greetings. I am Jedi Master Roshko Grimbete."

"Hello. I am Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Do you have anything you wish to share with my students?"

Master Roshko paused a beat and said, "It all began when a group of scientists discovered the mystical energy that came to be called, 'the Force.' A few of them discovered that somehow, they were able to use this energy. And that it gave them great power. They later found that there were others as well who could use it. They got together and decided to only use our powers for the greater good of the galaxy. They understood that with great power came great responsibilities. This was the birth of the Jedi Order. However, there were some among the Order who decided to use it for themselves. For their own benefit. For power. Greed. This began the first was of the Jedi and Dark Jedi. The war raged on for over 100 years. I came to be a Jedi in these times. We fought the Dark Jedi and forced them off into the Unknown Regions."

At this moment all of the Jedi students cheered and clapped, but Master Grimbete raised his hand to silent us. He was not done yet. "The night after we drove the Dark Jedi away, I had a dream that delivered a prophecy. I will share it with you now.

"_There is a young man from a galaxy far, far away;_

_He shall wake up in the Jedi Academy one day._

_He will accept his new home with little remorse;_

_For his, is a world without the Force._

"_The Force will call to him like a beacon;_

_This was the man the Force had been seekin'._

_But his training will not be straight as an arrow;_

_For this bright light will cast a dark shadow._

"_The training of the padawan will fly by much faster;_

_He was born with the knowledge of a great Jedi Master._

_But do not be fooled by his calm and gentle part;_

_For deep within, lies a dark and angry heart._

"_The Jedi Order must soften this heart of stone;_

_Or face the darkest enemy they have ever known." _

Master Skywalker nodded. "That prophecy has come to pass. I'm glad to say that we have overcome it. Thank you, Master Grimbete."

Master Grimbete nodded once to Master Skywalker and said, "Yes. Call for me anytime that you need me." And as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone.

Master Skywalker placed the Jedi Holocron onto the podium and said, "There will be time each day for all of you to search and study with the Holocron. It will be here when you need it."

I could hardly pay attention to anything after hearing the prophecy given by Master Grimbete. _That prophecy wasn't talking about Anakin Skywalker! It's talking about me!_

---------------------------------------------

After class, I was leaving with Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell. They were all talking and laughing, but I wasn't in much of a mood to. Tallah was the first to notice the troubled look on my face. "Ben? What's wrong?"

I looked at her and honestly didn't know what to say. "I'm not sure, Tallah. There might not be anything wrong."

Guild said, "Then why are you worrying about it? Forget about it until you know you have to worry about it."

Granted, Guild made some sense. But this wasn't a time to sit back and relax. "I can't, Guild. It might be too important. I'm sorry guys, but I need to be alone for a while. I'll be back to meet you at the evening meal." Without waiting for a response, I ran off and didn't stop until I reached my room.

When I got there, I shut the door behind me and sat down on the stone floor. I took a deep breath and allowed myself to be absorbed by the Force. Searching in my mind and heart for any feelings that could be dangerous for a Jedi. _I have to know if I really have anger inside me. I always though I let go of my anger a long time ago, but the easiest thing in the world to do, is to fool yourself._

I searched my mind for two hours and came up with virtually nothing. _I don't feel anything bad. Just an old longingness to belong somewhere. Which I've already done here. The worst I'm picking up is a touch of spitefulness for being cheated out of so many gifts of childhood. Sleepovers, birthday parties, true friends. And I sense a desire to want to prove that those who hated me were wrong. But is that enough to become the worst enemy of the Jedi?_

I took another deep breath as I opened my eyes and came back into awareness. _If it's there, I can't find it. But I still have this feeling in my gut that I'm the one in the prophecy. I guess there's only one person to go to._

---------------------------------------------

Master Skywalker sat back in his chair, taking it all in before he looked back up at me and said, "And you believe that that prophecy is about you?"

"You have to admit that there are a lot of similarities between me and the man in the prophecy. My training is going much faster than the other students. You said so yourself that you've never had a student learn things so quickly."

"Yes, but do you know how many Jedi have been trained since the time the Force was discovered? Possibly millions. Do you think that there's never been other students who've learned things as fast? Or faster? I still believe that the prophecy was about my father."

"But he specifically said that they came from a world without the Force. Anakin Skywalker came from Tatooine. It just so happens that where I come from...the Force doesn't exist. How many places do you know about that are like that?"

Master Skywalker was silent for a long time before he spoke. "Ben, if what you're telling me is true—and I'm still not too sure...then I suppose we have to find out for sure. Tomorrow morning, you and I will go to the one place that will test you against the Dark Side. To reflect what's inside you."

After a moment, I caught on and nodded. "The Dark Side cave on Dagobah."

---------------------------------------------

That evening, I walked into the cafeteria. When I got my tray of food, I made my way to my friends. They were all sitting down quietly, looking concerned. As usual, Ryndell was the first to break the silence. "Ben, where'd you go? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I ran off like that. It was an emergency. You know that prophecy we heard today from Master Grimbete?"

Guild said, "The one about Anakin Skywalker? Yeah..."

"Well, I don't think that prophecy was about Anakin. I think it's about me."

Tallah responded with, "You? There's nothing dark or angry about you, Ben. Just yesterday, you stepped on a bug and you felt guilty about it. How could you become the greatest enemy the Jedi have ever faced?"

"I know that. I just can't ignore my feeling on this. And I've convinced Master Skywalker of the possibility. Tomorrow morning, he's taking me to Dagobah."

Ryndell asked, "What's on Dagobah?"

"A cave that's strong with the Dark Side of the Force. It shows you what's in your heart. And it can give you the most important of lessons. During his own training, Master Skywalker entered it. The only way to know for sure is to enter the cave."

Guild asked what I could tell they were all thinking. "And...what if the prophecy is about you?"

"Then...Master Skywalker and I will have to figure it out from there."

---------------------------------------------

Master Skywalker and I got up very early the next morning to get our ship ready for take off. He had put Master Streen in charge of things while he was gone, as he usually did. We were in the docking bay loading our supplies into our ship, not speaking very much. We both saw this as a very serious moment and weren't up for much conversation. That was just fine with me.

"Hey, wait for us!" I recognized the voice immediately. _Guild._

I turned around to see Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell racing down the docking bay towards us. When they reached us, Ryndell said, "After you left last night, we all agreed that we wanted to come with you."

"Thanks Ryndell, but I'm not so sure that that's a good idea. We're not exactly going to a paradise resort. And if things do go the way I think they might, it's not going to be very pleasant."

Tallah said, "We understand that. That's why we want to go. In case things do get rough down there, we'll be right there. No matter how bad things get, friends can always help make things better."

_Friends. For most of my life, I never thought that anyone would actually consider me a friend. _I looked over to Master Skywalker and said, "Would it be all right if they came along, Master?"

Master Skywalker smiled a little. "As long as you don't have a problem with it, I suppose so."

Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell all said, "Thank you, Master Skywalker."

"You're welcome. But listen carefully. Ben was right. Dagobah is no resort. It has no cities, no technology. Nothing. It's a swamp. The only thing it has are lots of wild animals. And many of them are very dangerous. We all have to stay close together and be mindful. Understand?"

"Yes, Master Skywalker."

"Good. Now, why don't all of you help load up the supplies?"

Within the hour, our ship was loaded up and in the air. A few minutes later, we left Yavin's atmosphere behind us and entered hyperspace. I was quiet as took a seat in the cockpit. _Well, the time of my greatest test yet is coming. All those years watching Star Wars, I was sure that I would've never gone to the Dark Side if I were a Jedi. Now I'll finally know._

---------------------------------------------

A few hours after entering hyperspace, Master Skywalker left me alone in the cockpit to go meditate.

I just sat in the co-pilot's chair, not doing much of anything. It felt like I had a 10 pound weight in my stomach. _I don't see how this could prophecy could _not_ be talking about me. It was describing me in every line._

I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. _It's not fair. I actually find something that I'm the best at. But now because of this, it looks like it's never going to happen. No matter what I do, no matter how I better myself, no matter where I go, my past is always there to ruin things._

"You're scared to enter the cave."

I raised my head and turned to see Tallah standing there. "I'm not scared. Not really. What I face can't really hurt me."

"No, I can tell that you're not scared for your life. You fear the possibility of not becoming a Jedi Knight. You fear the power that you feel inside of you. To not be able to control it. You fear becoming a second Darth Vader."

_How could she know so much about me? _"Yeah...I guess I do fear those things. Master Skywalker has dedicated his entire life to restoring the Jedi Order. If I am the one destined from the prophecy, I'd fly a ship into a sun before I'd give myself the chance to destroy what so many have worked so hard to build."

Tallah walked up to me and knelt down. She took my hand and said, "You're forgetting the last part of the prophecy. _'The Jedi Order must soften this heart of stone.'_ To me, that says that there will still be hope for that student. No Jedi is destined one way. All Jedi are destined for either great good or great evil. It can still be fought off."

"I'm not so sure if I could fight it."

"You won't have to fight it alone. Master Skywalker will be there. And Guild and Ryndell. I'll be there, too."

I brought my eyes up to look at her's. We stayed that way for a moment. _I've never really been all that great at things like this._

_You don't have to think. Just do._

I leaned my face in closer to hers. A moment before our lips met, I heard the hissing noise of the door to the cockpit open. Tallah let go of my hand and we both pulled back.

I turned my head to see Guild come in. "Oh, there you guys are. Ryndell and I were wondering what happened to you two." He looked at both of us and saw that Tallah's face was bright red. "Uh, did I walk in a few seconds too early or too late?"

Tallah got up to her feet and walked quickly out of the room without saying a word. After she left, Guild turned back to me, giving me the Rodian version of a smirk. "So what was going on in here?"

"Nothing. We were just talking," I lied. The hyper-drive began to beep at that moment. _Thank God. An excuse to get out of here. _"We're coming up on Dagobah. I better go get Master Skywalker."

---------------------------------------------

As the ramp to our ship slowly lowered to the ground we all walked down onto the ground, looking around at the new environment we were all on. It was Guild that said what I could tell Tallah and Ryndell were thinking. "Phew...what died here?"

"One of the greatest Jedi Masters who ever lived, Guild." We all turned around to see Master Skywalker walking up behind us. "Of course, since he didn't leave a body behind, he wouldn't leave a smell, either."

Guild stammered over his next words, obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Master. That's not what I...I mean...I didn't intend any disrespect to Master Yoda."

"There's no apology necessary, Guild. Master Yoda forgave my rudeness to him when we first met. So I'm sure that he wouldn't think anything of your words." Master Skywalker put down the large box that he was carrying and looked at all of us. "I think we'll all eat something before we begin what we need to."

I looked around at the clearing that we were in and noticed the familiarity of it. I looked around and saw a fallen mutilated hut that had more almost completely composted. "This was the hut that Master Yoda lived in, wasn't it?"

Master Skywalker looked more than a little surprised. "Yes, Ben, it is. How did you know?"

I couldn't very well tell him, _'Well, I saw it in The Empire Strikes Back!'_ So thinking quickly, I just blurted out, "Well, I can just feel a very powerful aura from there. It could only be from as powerful a Jedi Master as Yoda."

"I on, Ben. Get something to eat. You're going to need a full stomach for where you're going today."

---------------------------------------------

I stood outside the Dark Side cave. A huge rush of cold came over me. A sense and aura of death followed. I could almost hear Master Yoda's words, _"That place is strong with the Dark Side of the Force. A domain of evil, it is. And in you must go." _

I felt a hand go to my shoulder and the voice of Master Skywalker say, "No matter what it is that you face in there, remember what you've learned. Hold true to yourself and you will succeed."

I took a deep breath and entered the cave. When I reached the end, I stood there waiting. A beat later, I heard the sound of a lightsaber ignite behind me. Its red glow filled the cave.

I slowly turned around to face my test. But what I saw was nothing I had suspected. "Josh...what are you doing here?"

Josh was wearing the usual snide expression he usually had on his face. "Do you think you're the only one who can enter this world? Ignite your lightsaber so I can beat you again."

"I don't have a lightsaber yet."

"Really? After all this time? My master said I was ready after a week. That'll make this all that much easier. I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me." Josh began to approach me with his lightsaber held high.

At that moment, I began to feel a forgotten emotion. Rage. My heart began to thump harder. My teeth gnashed together as my jaw muscles flexed. I felt my blood boiling. "A Jedi is never without a weapon, Josh. One even more powerful than a lightsaber."

"Yeah? What's that?"

I allowed myself to smile as I brought my right arm up with my hand open. "The Force!"

As I slowly began to clench my hand, the hilt of Josh's lightsaber began to crush until it finally exploded in his hands. Josh let out a scream of pain, looking down at his burned hands. With a turn of my wrist, the bones in his arms snapped like twigs. He let out an even larger continuous scream of pain. But I wasn't done yet.

I lifted my now clenched left hand level with my right and drove them forward. The sound of snapping returned. This time from Josh's legs. He began to fall to the ground, but I wouldn't let him.

"On your feet!" I used the Force to keep him up, but not for long. I drove my right hand forward again and launched his back into a tree. I never knew if the next snapping sound I heard came from the tree or Josh's back. However, my anger was still not satisfied.

Josh had just barely hit the ground before I leaped on top of him and began to throw punches into his face and body, using the Force to increase the speed and strength of my hits.

It wasn't long before Josh's face and body were practically flattened. My clothes were soaked in his blood. My thirst for revenge finally quenched, I sat there staring down at his mangled face.

But his face began to change. It slowly became the face of another man. One who symbolized evil more than anyone else ever did, living or dead. _The Emperor!_

I leaped off the body and stood up, just as it began to rise up into the air and change into a blue spirit. "Excellent! Your anger burns brightly inside you! With you as the new Dark Lord of the Sith, you will bring the Jedi to their knees!"

"I'll never join you, Palpatine!"

"Join? Dear boy, you have killed in anger. You have already joined the Dark Side. There is no turning back now."

"Never."

"You do not believe me? Look at yourself."

I hesitated before I looked down at myself and jumped. I was now in all black. My clothes were similar to the ones worn by Darth Vader. I looked back up to the Emperor who was now smiling. "And that's not all. Look at your face."

I brought my hand up to face, expecting to feel flesh. But what I felt was cold steel. I knelt down quickly and looked in a puddle of muddy water to look at my reflection. But what I saw was the mask of Darth Vader staring back at me. I put my hands on the mask and tugged at it. "It won't come off!"

"Of course not. This is your new face."

"No!" I began to tug even harder at the mask and helmet, but they refused to budge.

"Do not fight it. Embrace it. This is your destiny. A destiny of great power. You will succeed where Darth Vader failed. You will extinguish the flame of the Jedi Order...You will kill Luke Skywalker!"

"_No!" _

"_Yes!" _

I finally gave up trying to remove the mask and fell to my knees. I heard the Emperor begin to laugh. And it began to get louder and louder. The noise went into my ears and began to feel like having nails driven into my skull.

I buried my face into the mud to try and escape the piercing laughter, but there was no escaping it. It kept getting louder and louder. The Emperor's voice was now in my head. _You will bring the Jedi to their knees! You will succeed where Darth Vader failed! You will kill Luke Skywalker!_

I felt my spirit and energy fading away. I poured the last of my strength into one last scream. This time for help. _"MASTER! ! !"_

Suddenly, everything went quiet. I lifted my head out of the mud and looked around to find that I was alone again. I looked down at myself to see me in my old clothes. They weren't soaked in blood anymore. Just covered in mud. I brought my hand to my face and felt no mask. Just my face.

_I failed_..._How could I have failed that test any more completely? _I slowly got back up to my feet and began my walk out of the cave. It was only out of sheer will that kept me on my feet. I felt as if a strong wind would knock me off my feet.

I left the cave with my head down to the ground. Too ashamed of myself to face them. For having failed the test so completely. I didn't see them, but I knew all of their eyes were on me. Too shocked to say anything, I knew that they felt what I had done. I heard Master Skywalker walk up to me and stop right in front of me. He didn't say anything. He just stood there, allowing me to feel his stare. I felt no anger or resentment. Not even so much as a touch of annoyance. Just a yearning to understand. To want to help.

_How can he possibly not be even a little upset? I have the potential to destroy everything he's dedicated his life to. He should be angry. He should be telling me that my training is over. Why won't he? _It all became too much for me to handle and any strength I had remaining in my legs left. I fell to the ground and just sat there. It was a long moment before I found my voice.

"I don't understand, Master." I finally brought myself to look up at him. "I know what the Dark Side is. I can identify it from the light. I know not to use it and I don't want to, but...when it came time to deny it, I..." Tears began to well up in my eyes and I turned away to hide my tears.

"I know, Ben. I know."

"It was like I was standing to one side watching myself do all those things. Trying to stop myself, but I couldn't. It was like I had no control over my mind and body."

"That's why the Dark Side is a path that must never be taken."

"I wonder if that's how Darth Vader felt."

"That's a definite possibility. But you are not Darth Vader. I want you to understand that right now. No Jedi is destined for evil. Or good."

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Now, together we can face your Dark Side and try and overcome it. But that depends on you. What is it that you want?"

_What do I want? There's only one thing that I want. Just one. _"I want to be a Jedi."

---------------------------------------------

"Remain calm. Think peaceful thoughts. Passive...Good..."

Master Skywalker and I were sitting on the ground, facing each other. He was teaching me new meditating exercises to remain at peace. It had been a few days since that moment in the Dark Side cave.

"I want you to remember the emotions you felt just before giving in to the Dark Side. Remember them, but don't relive them."

I brought my memories back to that dark moment. I could still here Josh's words as clearly as I heard them then. Or were they my words? "I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me."

_Oh really, Josh? Let me see_..._who kicked whose ass??_

"Careful, Ben. Remember them. Don't relive them."

A little upset with myself for forgetting, I took a deep breath and calmed myself again. Going back to the feeling of passiveness. Once again, I brought myself back to the moment of rage. This time, not giving in to it, but observing it.

_What I sense is obviously rage. But what caused it? Could it be that maybe I was trying to prove my worth? Trying to show him that he's no better than I am?_

I slowly came out of meditation and opened my eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out before Master Skywalker asked me, "Do you believe that you're beginning to understand the source of your anger?"

"I think so, Master."

"Good. That's enough for today. But remember to remain at peace."

"Yes, Master." We slowly got back up to our feet and began to walk to the ship. I wanted to go lay down for a while and think.

When I reached the ramp, I heard Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell talking about random thing. When I stepped into the ship, they all quieted down and looked at me. They'd all been a bit edgy around me these last couple days. I couldn't say I blamed them. I smiled weakly as I waved to them and kept walking to go to my bed.

Before I got very far, I heard Tallah call out, "Hey Ben, were are you going? Come on and sit down with us."

I turned around to look at them. I nodded as I walked to the table and sat down next to Ryndell. She asked, "So how are things going with Master Skywalker?"

"Well, I guess they're going all right. But pretty slow. I'm not really sure what it is that I have to do."

"According to Master Skywalker, you have to confront your anger and defeat it."

"Yeah, I know that. But how will I know if it's defeated? I thought I let go of it years ago, but I hadn't. I just buried it and pushed it my subconscious until it erupted beyond control. How will I know if I do it again?"

"I'm not sure if that's a question anyone can answer, but you."

"Yeah...I was kind of afraid of that."

---------------------------------------------

It was late that very night and I was just laying in my bed thinking. I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to go outside for a little while.

As the ramp lowered to the ground, I walked outside into the swamp. Actually, it didn't look quite so bad at nighttime.

It wasn't until I reached the ground that I noticed Tallah sitting down against a tree, looking up at the sky. Without turning her head, Tallah said, "Hi Ben."

_Her senses are getting a lot better. _"Hi Tallah. You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"No. There's been a lot on my mind lately." She looked over at me and smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Oh...sorry."

I let out a quiet laugh and shrugged as I went over and sat next to her. "No big deal."

"Ben, can I ask you a question?"

"I suppose so. What is it?"

"Well...you don't meet many people who are against violence as much as you are. But when you were in the Dark Side cave, the emotions that we all sensed pouring out of you..."

"Yeah, I think I understand where you're going with this."

"It was like pure anger and hatred. But at the same time, there was pain. Like you were suffering all of the pain you gave to your test."

"Well, I kind of was."

"I was wondering what it was that you faced? What could you have possibly had to go up against that would spark so much hatred in someone like you? I mean, it's okay if you don't feel comfortable telling me—"

"No, it's all right." I sat there for a moment trying to think how to explain it all. Finally, it began to pour out from my heart through my mouth. "It was someone from my past. Someone who in many ways, stole a lot of my life away from me. He was the first of many who made my life miserable. It got so bad that eventually, I just completely shut down. My life turned into a single routine. I'd drag myself out of bed in the morning, go to school, put up with everyone's crap without attempting to defend myself, go home and in several hours I'd go to sleep to do the whole thing again the next day. That was my life for around eight years. Eventually, I came to a point where I thought I had accepted it and put it behind me. But I guess I was wrong. It was just buried and forgotten. Until just a few days ago. When he came at me, I couldn't stand letting him win again. Especially when I always knew that I was stronger than him."

"Why are you so certain that it was him that you were facing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how do you know that it wasn't you; all of your collected fear and anger together, coming together as an amalgam—the original source of the emotions? But that's only a theory. What's more important is what it means to you."

"I don't know. But you definitely gave me something to think about. I'm starting to feel tired. I think I can sleep now. How about you?"

"I'll come inside in a little while."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

I got back up to my feet and climbed up the ramp into the ship and got back into bed. I fell asleep shortly after lying down. It was then that I had a dream that changed everything.

---------------------------------------------

I began to thrash and turn in bed as I relived that dark moment in the cave. After it was over, I jumped awake and sat up, sweating and breathing hard. When I had time to sort everything out, I smiled. I understood everything then.

I jumped to my feet and ran into the main room, where everyone was sitting down, getting food ready for breakfast. "I get it!"

Master Skywalker looked up at me and said, "What do you get?"

"Everything. I had a dream that hinted me to what my test meant." I looked over at Tallah and smiled. "With also some extra help." Tallah smiled back at me.

I was brought back to reality when Master Skywalker asked, "What happened in your dream?"

"I was in the cave reliving the test. Even though I knew against it, my body redid all of the violent things I did. At the end, I was covered in blood on top of him, when the face changed."

Guild piped up saying, "Into the Emperor."

I looked at him and shook my head. "No. Not this time. In the dream, after the face changed, I was sitting there staring back into my own cut- up, mangled face." I looked back to Master Skywalker and said, "I think you can understand the chilling effect of that, Master."

"I have a pretty good idea."

"I realized that I wasn't facing him. I was facing myself. My own fears and anger. And I realized that releasing those emotions into battle will only destroy myself."

"It seems you've learned a lot about yourself, Ben."

"I want to enter the cave again, Master."

"Are you sure? The point of the test is only to learn the lesson, which you've already done."

"I'm positive, Master. I want a second chance."

---------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, I found myself back at the entrance to the cave. I felt those same cold rushes of darkness as last time, feeling nervous but not nearly as much as last time. Now I was ready. Armed with new knowledge.

I took a deep breath and entered the cave. When I reached the end, I stood there waiting. A beat later, I heard the sound of a lightsaber ignite behind me. Its red glow filled the cave.

I slowly turned around to face my test. This time, knowing what to expect. "Josh."

Josh was wearing the same snide expression as last time. "Ignite your lightsaber so I can beat you again."

"I don't have a lightsaber yet."

"Really? After all this time? My master said I was ready after a week. That'll make this all that much easier. I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me." Josh began to approach me with his lightsaber held high.

I repeated my same words as last time, but now with different meaning behind them. "A Jedi is never without a weapon, Josh. One even more powerful than a lightsaber."

"Yeah? What's that?"

I allowed myself to smile as I brought my right arm up with my hand open. "The Force!"

Using my thumb and middle finger, I flicked at the air and Josh suddenly tripped, falling face first into a puddle of mud. His lightsaber extinguished as it fell to the ground and rolled away from him. Josh brought his face out of the mud and got up on all fours, looking up at me. His attitude had immediately changed. Even with mud all over his face, I could tell that he was shocked, humiliated, and ashamed all at once.

I laughed quietly as I walked up to him and squatted down to his level. "You aren't Josh. You're me. My collected fear and anger that I wasted so much of my time to focus on." I stood back up and looked down at him. "Well, I'm releasing your presence from my soul. Leave me."

The image of Josh on all fours looking up at me slowly began to vanish. I was alone in the cave again. I took a deep breath and felt an intense rush of power enter me. Now that the anger had left my heart, I felt more strength enter me than I thought was possible. I walked out of the cave with head up high and saw everyone smiling. Tallah, Guild, and Ryndell all ran up to congratulate me on what I had accomplished.

Master Skywalker was smiling too, but he also had his arms crossed and his head crooked to one side. "I'd have to question your method of using the Force to trip someone."

I remained smiling and shrugged. "Well, I've known for a while now that he spent so much time harassing me to boost his own ego. I knew that by bruising it a bit would end the confrontation. And isn't a bruised ego better than a dead body?"

"You have interesting wisdom for someone so young."

"Thank you, Master."

"So do you believe that you've conquered your own Dark Side?"

"...No, Master."

"No?"

"I don't believe that a Jedi ever conquers their Dark Side. It's something that we do everyday. Every morning, we must consciously turn our backs to the Dark Side. That's the price and the burden for our power."

"Perhaps you've learned more than I anticipated. It's time to go home."

----------------------------------------

Many hours later, we left hyperspace and saw Yavin IV off in the distance. _Strange. It's not my home, but I still have this feeling of being gone for a long time and finally coming home._

Once we entered Yavin's atmosphere, I saw the pyramid shaped Jedi Academy poking its head out from the tall ancient trees that surrounded it. I can't wait to start my training again. _I know that I still have a lot to learn before I'm a Jedi Knight, but I'm going to have a whole lot of fun getting there._

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...An Elegant Weapon.


	3. An Elegant Weapon

**-An Elegant Weapon-**

_It's a step that all Jedi students must take. The time has come for Ben to build his lightsaber. But when it is complete, an incredible thing happens that only one Jedi in the entire history of the Order has done. Can they expect as much from Ben as this legendary Jedi Master?_

I'd been back at the Academy for about month when the next step in my training came to me. At this time, I had just added a new routine to my morning run. After I had finished, I would go into meditation for an hour. _Incredible. No matter how tired you are, after just an hour in meditation, you feel as if you've had a full night's sleep_..._Wait, who's here? Only one person could have this much power radiating from them. _"Good morning, Master Skywalker." I opened my eyes to see him standing in the doorway.

"Good morning, Ben. I have your next challenge."

"Great. What is it?"

"I have to admit that for a while, I had my reservations about this. Because of your still recent brush with the Dark Side. But now I'm convinced that you are truly at peace. You're ready to carry with you the ultimate symbol of a Jedi Knight."

My mouth dropped open when I figured out what he meant. "You mean...making my lightsaber?"

"Yes. Many students don't come to this step for a couple of years, but I'm making an exception with you. After class this morning, I'll sit down with you and explain the mechanics of building a lightsaber. The most important thing you need is patience. It will take time to build."

"I understand, Master. Thank you."

---------------------------------------------

After showering, I sprinted down to class and sat with my friends. "You guys aren't going to believe what just happened!"

Ryndell asked, "What?"

"I was in my room meditating when Master Skywalker came in and gave me my next challenge!" I looked around to make sure no one else was listening in. I wanted to keep this secret until I had finished building it. "He's going to teach me to build a lightsaber!"

Shocked, Guild blurted out, "What? Already? We haven't even been training for half a year!"

"I don't know, he just said that he believed that I was ready for it. He's going to teach me how after class today."

Guild came back with, "How long do you think it'll be before you have one built?"

"It's tough to say. Possibly anywhere from a week to a month or more."

While laughing, Ryndell said, "Just try not to lose too many fingers building it!"

Tallah and Guild joined in the laughing, and I grinned. "Funny..."

---------------------------------------------

After class was over and all of the other students had filed out of the room, Master Skywalker sat down with me and discussed what I would need to build my lightsaber. "The first thing you will need is a suitable power source to store the energy. It must also be able to fit into a metal tube. And the most important thing that you must do is get a focusing jewel. This will determine what color the blade will be. Some will search the jungle for their jewel. And there are a select few that will make their own."

It was difficult for me to take it all in as Master Skywalker explained it all to me. I wasn't mechanically challenged by any means, but I had my limits. And I was pretty sure that the mechanics of lightsabers were well past that limit. But I refused to allow that to slow me down. I was determined to understand it all and build it without having him standing over my shoulder every step of the way.

"Aside from these things, which are the necessities to complete the lightsaber, many Jedi decide on extras to fit their own needs. Like adding a mechanism that will lock the blade on even if dropped to the ground. Some will even add a second jewel that will allow them to extend the blade to twice its length. But I'll warn you right now that that is an extremely difficult thing to do. But it's your decision. Do you think that you can handle this, Ben?"

"I'll try—no! I mean...Yes, Master. I'll do it."

Master Skywalker smiled and said, "I'll give you a start by giving you a power source. Do you know where you want to start looking for your jewel?"

"Actually...I'd like to make my jewel."

"Ben...are you aware of what it takes to make your jewel? It takes two days of straight meditation and concentration to give the jewel the perfect heated environment. Not hot enough and the jewel will not shape correctly. Too hot and the jewel will melt. In that two days, you must remain in complete concentration. No food, no water, no sleep, nothing. It would probably be the most difficult two days you would ever have in your training here."

"But when complete, I'll have a lightsaber that is truly mine."

"I can't argue that point...but are you positive that this is what you want to do?"

"Yes, Master."

"Very well. You'll be excused from class tomorrow morning and the next morning. I don't want you to start right away. Before you do this, I want you to eat a lot today, drink plenty of water, and be well rested before you start."

"I understand, Master. I'll let my friends know to not look for me the next couple of days."

"That would be a good idea. If this is truly what you want to do, then my advice to you would be to relax as much as you can today."

---------------------------------------------

The next two days for me were a blur. The best way that I could describe the fatigue would be like being constantly punched and just having to stand there taking it. With defending yourself not even an option.

Throughout the two days, I constantly heard voices in my mind saying things like, _"You did enough. Give up now."_

"_Come on, sleep for a while. What'll it hurt?"_

"_Stop to eat something. You probably don't really have to go two days _straight_ without stopping."_

"_Give up now. You made a great effort, but you can't do this. Master Skywalker will be proud of you for trying. Many students just find their jewels. There's no shame in it."_

But I knew that these voices were just my pain and fatigue talking. I refused to listen to them. When my two days were over, something in my mind told me that my work was complete. I slowly opened my eyes, but for several minutes, could barely see because of going for so long without using them.

I opened the door to the furnace in front of me and smiled at what I saw. I picked up the two jewels that were sitting side by side. I gripped them tightly, feeling their smoothness and surprised at how cool they were, when they should've been hot.

With my eyes not open much more than slits and with a weak smile on my face, I made my way to the Throne Room, where I knew Master Skywalker would be. The walk was difficult and I felt weak with each step, but I needed to show my work to him.

As I walked through the Throne Room, Master Skywalker turned around and smiled as he saw me approaching. "Hello Ben. Welcome back to the world of the living. Was your work a success?"

I smiled a little more and held up my fist. As I opened my hand, I said, "You tell me."

Master Skywalker smiled even more when he looked down at the jewel I carried in my hand. Two jewels without a spot of color to them. "May I see them closer?"

I hesitated at first. I really didn't want them to leave my hand. Or anything to happen to them. But I knew I could trust him, so I dropped them into his outstretched hand.

He looked them over, checking for smoothness and any flaws in the jewels, like cracks or bubbles, Anything major like that and the jewel would not work. I held my breath and my heart paused in my chest as Master Skywalker looked back up at me to give his critique. "You did just fine, Ben. These will make fine focusing jewels for your lightsaber."

I breathed easier after that. "I'm relieved. Thank you, Master."

"You're welcome." Master Skywalker began to look me up and down at that point. "Considering all of the extra work that you do, I don't think it'll harm anything if you miss one more class. Why don't you go get some sleep?"

"I'd like that. Thank you, Master."

---------------------------------------------

There was never a time in my life when a bed felt so comfortable. Or a time when I fell asleep so quickly. The instant I closed my eyes, I was out cold. Until I was woken up by a knocking on my door. I opened my eyes and sat up. As I took a deep breath and rubbed my eyes, I noticed how refreshed I felt. The knocking at my door repeated and this time, I got up to open my door. I wasn't surprised to see my friends standing there.

In his usual fashion, Guild said, "Ben! Long time, no see!"

"Hi guys. So, what've I missed while under meditation?"

Ryndell said, "Well, you've turned into a pretty big celebrity around here. All of the students are talking about you. Even some of the past students and other Jedi Masters have come back to see you."

"Me? What for?"

Tallah said, "From what I've heard, Master Skywalker and some of the other Jedi Masters have been feeling tremors through the Force. As if something monumental is about to happen. They believe that you have something to do with it."

"How?"

Tallah responded, "I don't know. But neither do they."

Guild said, "But it looks like they're going to be expecting some great things from you."

"Well then, I'll do my best to not disappoint them."

---------------------------------------------

Starting that day, I had a lot of meetings with the other Jedi Masters of the galaxy: Kyp Durron, Cilghal, Streen, Mara Jade-Skywalker. They all seemed so astonished by me, but I really didn't get it.

The meetings were usually just conversations. They would ask me for my thoughts on certain aspects of the Force or about my past experiences in life. But there were others things they had me do that were a bit more interesting. Master Jade-Skywalker spent a lot of her time with me giving me tests to do through the Force. Master Durron seemed very interested in discussing my brush with the Dark Side, which made sense considering his own brush with it. Master Cilghal wanted to run some medical tests on me to test for any biological differences between me and the other human students. I was a little nervous about that test, but as it turned out, there wasn't.

In between all of these things, I was trying to put my lightsaber together. It seemed that the closer I got to completion, the more frequently I was being called for. I really didn't mind it too much. It was just that it was slowing my work on my lightsaber.

After two long weeks, my patience was finally starting to pay off. My next step was inserting my focusing jewels so that they would be wired to the power source. This was such a difficult and exact step, that it took slow and careful hands, plus some careful use of the Force to assist in things that were too small to be done with hands.

_Easy_..._Don't_..._rush yourself_..._Take the time_..._to do it_..._correctly_..._Almost got it_..._almost_..._almost_..._Yes! Got it!_

With the focusing jewels wired to the power source, I took the other half of the metal cylinder and screwed it in tightly to the other half. I picked up the lightsaber and held it in my right hand for a while before I placed my left hand onto the hilt. I placed my thumb over the switch, but couldn't bring myself to ignite it. _What if it doesn't work right? Then the past two weeks will have been for nothing._

After a deep breath, I pushed the switch and heard my lightsaber's first snap-hiss. I felt the hilt vibrating in my hands. The bright light shining off of the blade...It wasn't until that moment that I noticed the peculiarity of my lightsaber to others. _What the hell_..._I've never heard of anything like this before. Is there something wrong with my lightsaber? _I extinguished the blade and ran out to see Master Skywalker.

---------------------------------------------

Master Skywalker was in his own quarters when I managed to find him. "Master, I have something that I need to show you."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about my lightsaber."

"Is it finished?"

"I think so, but when I ignited it, I noticed something strange. I'm sure I did everything correctly, but I'd like your help."

"I'll help in any way that I can. What's the problem with it?"

"It's the blade. It's...well...white."

"Well, the core of all lightsaber blades are white, Ben."

"Yes, I know Master. But that's not exactly what I was talking about. Look." I brought my lightsaber up and ignited it. The pure white blade came to life and its quiet hum was the only sound in the room for a few moments. I stood there looking at the blade before I looked back to Master Skywalker. "I've never heard of a white blade before, Master. Have you?"

He just stood there looking at the blade in, what looked to me like quiet awe. That began to worry me, because I knew that after a life like his, it would take something huge to shake him up this much. "Uh...Master?"

While still looking at the blade, Master Skywalker whispered, "Perfection."

"I'm sorry, Master...perfection?"

Master Skywalker finally looked at me and said, "Ben, are you aware of what it requires for a pure white lightsaber?" After I shook my head, he continued. "A perfect focusing jewel. No flaws of any kind and perfect geometrical shapes. And no jewel made from nature can create one. It must be done with the Force, as you did. When I studied the jewels you made, I was so busy making sure that there were no major flaws that I missed that there were no flaws at all."

"So...there's nothing wrong with my lightsaber?"

"No, Ben. In fact, next to your lightsaber, there's something wrong with all of ours."

I stumbled to try and respond to a compliment like that, but all that came out was, "Uh...Thank...Thank you, Master."

"I'd like to speak with the other Jedi Masters for a while. Go spend some time with your friends. I know you haven't had much of a chance to see them lately. We'll call you when we're ready."

"Understood, Master." I extinguished my lightsaber and clipped it to my belt for the first time. After I left, I went out in search of my friends. _I think they'll be pretty interested in hearing this._

---------------------------------------------

As we all walked along the hallways in the Academy, I noticed that all of the students were still awed at being around me. It was strange to have people make paths for me to go through. And they always seemed to be whispering to each other about me. Some were noticing the lightsaber I now had on my belt, and pointing it out to others.

Ryndell excitedly said, "Master Skywalker actually called your lightsaber perfect?"

"Yeah. I really don't understand all of what's going on. Even if my lightsaber is rare, I don't see the big deal with a white blade." I looked around at everyone in the hallway who were all staring at me. Quietly, I said, "I wish everyone would quit looking at me like I'm some kind of zoo exhibit."

Tallah said, "Well, you've given them a lot of reason to. A lot of rumors are going around about you. Some of them are saying that you're going to start teaching our classes. A few are even saying that you're teaching the Jedi Masters."

"What?? That's crazy! How do these things get started? Just because I made my lightsaber early?"

Guild shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess...hey, do you think we could see it?"

Immediately, one of the younger students in my class spoke up. "Yeah, ignite it! We want to see it!" Soon, I had a large group of students in a full circle around me, all talking at once that they wanted to see my lightsaber.

I was considering it when Master Streen broke through the circle and said, "Ben, we're ready to speak with you. Come with me." Everyone began to groan disappointedly, but Master Streen spoke above it. "You will all have a chance to understand, but after we speak with him first. Remember, patience. Use the Force."

---------------------------------------------

I stood in the Throne Room, before the first six Jedi Masters of the New Order, who were all staring at me. Masters Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, Master Kyp Durron, Master Streen, Master Cilghal, and Master Tionne.

Master Kyp Durron spoke first. "Ben, Master Skywalker has told us of what you accomplished with your lightsaber. Through further research with the Jedi Holocron, we believe that we have unraveled this mystery. Could you please ignite it now?"

I nodded my head and pulled the lightsaber free and held it in my hand. I pointed it away from myself and ignited the blade. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is being considered such a big deal. I mean, just because I did something that's kind of rare—"

Master Mara Jade Skywalker interrupted with, "Rare? Rare, Ben? In the thousands of years of the Jedi, there has only been one other Jedi who carried a white-bladed lightsaber. That's far from just rare."

"And who was that?" I asked after extinguishing my lightsaber and clipping it back onto my belt.

All of the Jedi Masters looked to Master Tionne, who stood up. Being the authority on the old Jedi, she was the one to tell the tale. "His name was Sacul Egroeg. And very little is really known about this legendary Jedi Master. It was during the time of the wars between the first of the Jedi and Dark Jedi. As the legend goes, the Jedi were in danger of losing when this mysterious man seemed to appear from nowhere. The Force was so strong with him that the Jedi could almost see it ripple around him as he moved. He quickly became in charge of the war. It was said that through his use of the Force and his powerful arms, he created whole new worlds for us to live on. And with his loving heart, created life to live on those worlds. He became the Master of the Jedi and the first to have the title of 'Jedi Master.' Many who saw his power believed that he didn't just use the Force. He embodied it. That he was an extension of its will. Like an arm."

"What happened to him?"

Master Tionne continued the story. "The war was finally coming to an end. Even after a hundred years, Master Sacul lost none of his power. His dark hair had gone white and his face wrinkled, but he remained as strong and powerful as ever. Victory had finally come into sight for the Jedi. As a last result, many of the Dark Jedi gathered together in space outside of Geonosis and began to create dark energy. Pure concentrated darkness. If released, it would destroy the Jedi Order. Master Sacul looked up at them and their dark energy. With a lift of his hand and a shove of his powerful arm, the energy went reeling into space. But he knew that it would return, so he used the Force and became pure light and flew out into space after the dark light. When the two lights collided, he absorbed all of its power and drew it back onto itself. It created an explosion and wiped out all of the Dark Jedi in the Dark Side matter. He forced those who remained into the Unknown Regions and ended the war.

"The legend also says that the incredible explosion he made, created another planet. One that became very important to the galaxy. A place where many monumental moments of the Force occurred. Tatooine."

_That makes sense. Tatooine was where Anakin Skywalker was conceived by the Force, where he took his first steps to the Dark Side after his mother died, where Luke Skywalker lived most of his life, where Obi-Wan Kenobi hid from Darth Vader, and where Luke Skywalker became determined to be a Jedi. And who knows what else will happen there? _"And what happened to Master Sacul?"

Master Tionne shrugged and said, "After the explosion, he disappeared. No trace of him was ever found. Many believed that he was delivered here by the Force and once his work was complete, he returned back to the heavens." She sat back down after that, without another word.

"That's a fascinating story, but what does this have to do with me?"

Master Skywalker spoke up for the first time. "We're getting to that. Because of his intimate connection to the Force, Master Sacul was considered, 'The Arm of the Force.' After he was gone, the Jedi passed down a legend that some day, the Dark Jedi would come back with another army. And that the Force would give us a second arm. If this legend is true, we believe that your lightsaber is the symbol. Ben...you are the second arm of the Force."

Master Cilghal spoke up. "Destined to one day, be the saving grace of the Jedi."

Master Streen concluded everything by saying, "Wear your lightsaber proudly, Ben. We don't know when, but someday you will be very vital to the survival of our way of life. When you're ready, very few will ever be able to stand against you."

"Whoa...I mean...Thank you, Masters."

All of the Jedi Masters quietly laughed and Master Skywalker dismissed me with, "May the Force be with you, Ben."

---------------------------------------------

As I retold the legend of Master Sacul to my friends, they kept getting more and more interested in the story. Their jaws almost hit the table when I told them how I was connected to the story.

Tallah struggled with her words, "So...you're like an extension of the Force?"

Ryndell piped up with, "Like a prophet?"

"Well...I guess that's a way of putting it. According to Master Skywalker, I'm 'the Second Arm of the Force,' or whatever that means."

Guild asked, "Just because of your white-bladed lightsaber?"

"Well, I don't think it was because of my lightsaber. It was just the symbol, because Master Sacul was the only other Jedi to have one."

Guild responded to that with, "Do you think you can show me how you built one with a white blade?"

"You know I can't do that, Guild. Master Skywalker made me promise to never teach the things he teaches me to other students. And more importantly, students aren't supposed to have a lightsaber until Master Skywalker tells them they're ready for it."

Defensively, he said, "I didn't say that I was going to build it. But I'd like to know for when I _am_ ready."

A part of me wanted to show Guild what it was that I did, but something just seemed wrong about that. And I had to remain skeptical that Guild would have knowledge of building a lightsaber and not use it. "Be that as it may Guild, I just don't think that it would be a very good idea."

All of a sudden Guild blew up in anger. "Oh, so you just want to make sure that no student in the Academy ever rises to your level, huh?"

"What? No, Guild—"

"Fine! See you around!" He got up from his chair and walked away.

"Guild, wait! What's wrong?" But Guild just ignored me as he walked away. I sat there watching him leave, with no clue what the problem was. I looked over at Tallah and Ryndell, hoping they'd have an answer. "What's wrong with Guild?"

Tallah answered, "We're not really sure. He's been like that for a few days now."

Ryndell said, "I guess he's a bit jealous at how quickly you're rising up in the Academy."

Tallah said, "It's more than that, Ryndell. I'm sure that he thinks that you're going to be leaving the Academy soon as a full Jedi Knight and forget about all of us back here. But I'm sensing something else, too. Something even bigger, but I can't tell what that is."

_Tallah's a lot better at sensing the emotions of people than I am. If she can't sense it, there's not much chance of me being able to. _"I guess I'll just have to give him a little time to cool off."

---------------------------------------------

As I stood in blackness, I kept myself alert. My eyes were covered, but through my blindness, I allowed the Force to guide my body. Trusting that it knew best what my next move should be. Shortly after, I blocked two more blaster shots with my new lightsaber.

"Good, Ben. Reach out to the Force...Clear your mind."

Through the Force, I felt the remote buzzing around in front of me. All of a sudden, a quick shot of pain hit me in the back. More out of surprise than pain, I yelped out and fell forward onto a knee. I pulled the helmet off my head that blocked my vision and turned my head around to see a second remote behind me. I turned my head back around to Master Skywalker who was sitting on a large rock with his arms folded. "You're doing well, Ben. But you're still having trouble with being aware of all your surroundings. You cannot put everything into the main objective you're given. If you had been aware, you would've felt the second remote on your back."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I said, "Yes, I know Master Skywalker. I don't understand why I can't get this yet!"

"Patience, Ben. Remember, although you have a lightsaber now, you're still a new student. Most others in your class won't be ready for this for another half year. Though for some, maybe a few months."

"Like who?"

Master Skywalker grinned and said, "That's still confidential. Even they aren't aware yet. That's enough for now."

"Yes, Master." I extinguished my lightsaber and clipped it back to my belt as Master Skywalker got up and walked back into the Academy.

I followed after him, but was stopped by Tallah, who met me at the door. "Ben, can I talk to you? It's important."

Using my hand to wipe the sweat away from my face, I nodded and said, "Okay. Is out here fine?"

"Yes. As long as it's in private." We both went and sat down on a large boulder near the entrance to the Academy. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Something that we should've talked about a while ago. About what happened...or, almost happened on the way to Dagobah two months ago."

"Oh..." _I've been dreading this conversation. _"What about it?" Actually, I had a pretty good idea what was coming, but this wasn't exactly an easy topic for me.

"Well, whether it meant something or not, I don't know. Maybe it was just your frustration and my trying to comfort you. Whichever it is, I don't think that we should start anything."

I felt my head begin to pound and a dull pain in my stomach. It was a while before I was able to bring myself to nod. "Right."

"I mean, we're training to be Jedi. I know that I have a while before I become a Jedi Knight, but you...you have your lightsaber already. If we start something, for all we know, next week you may be sent out on your first mission and end up getting killed. Then what would that week really mean?"

_The happiest week of my life is what it would mean. _I wanted to say this, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. The courage to say it, just wasn't in me. I just simply looked down and nodded again. "I understand."

Tallah sat there for a minute before she got up. "I still want to be your friend."

I looked up at her and smiled as much as I could. "Yeah. Me too."

Tallah turned around and went back into the Academy. I just sat there and watched her leave. There was so much that I wanted to tell her. I wanted to jump up and go after her, but I couldn't. _She's obviously not interested. Just try and forget about it._

---------------------------------------------

I stepped into the Throne Room late that very night. As I reached the podium, there it was. The Jedi Holocron. _Well, Master Skywalker _did_ say that it would be here for any students who need it. I need it now._

I picked up the small pale blue cube and held it in my hand. It seemed to react to my touch. _Let me see, what was his name? _"Jedi Master Roshko Grimbete?" After I spoke his name, the familiar hiss and steam returned, as it had the last time. I saw the old Jedi Master again.

"I am Master Roshko. What services do you require?"

"Hello. I'm a padawan who has questions that you can answer. I'd like to know more about Master Sacul. I've only heard legends passed down through the years. I'd like to hear from someone who was there. To sort out the exaggerations from reality."

"The Jedi never exaggerate about anything, padawan. We always cling to the truth. Though sometimes through our own point of view. Anything about Master Sacul that the Jedi pass down is the truth."

"I'm sorry, Master Roshko. I didn't mean any offense. Tell me, what was he like?"

"A born leader. He had such a powerful presence, that his aura made all Jedi feel safe when he was around them. Before each battle with the Dark Jedi, just knowing that he was there made us all feel invincible; that together we would not fail. He wasn't just a Jedi Master. He was _the_ Jedi Master. The Arm of the Force."

"Were there ever any holos of him?"

"The only one there ever was, was shortly before the final battle on Geonosis. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes, I would." The hologram of Master Roshko faded away, and in a moment a new holo came up of a man with white hair and a fairly long beard, also white. _Master Roshko is right. He does seem to have a very powerful aura. Even in a picture._

It was at this moment that I noticed something and took an even closer look at the holo. _No. It's not possible! But_..._it is. He's older here, but without the wrinkles and with dark hair this is_...

So many things began to make sense to me, as I remembered all the clues that I should've picked up on...

"_He seemed to have come from nowhere_..._"_

"_He created whole new worlds for us to live on_..._"_

"_An embodiment of the Force_..._"_

_Of course! I should've picked up on the fact that when they said he seemed to have come from nowhere, that he came from my world. That's the same way that I got here. And what other person could make as much sense being, 'The Arm of the Force?' But his name is Master Sacul Egroeg_..._Oh, god_...w_hich is backwards for George Lucas. Is this how he was able to create such a living world through his movies? Because he was actually here? Or did his coming here create this galaxy?_

_But why me? Why was I sent? _It finally clicked, when I remembered the last thing I was told about the legend of Master Sacul. _So it's true. It's really true. I was brought here to save the Jedi, just as he was. That's my destiny in this world. I am the Second Arm of the Force._

---------------------------------------------

_Come on! Bring it on, I'm not tired yet! Give me the best you have! _It was the next morning and Master Skywalker had me training on a remote again with a pilot helmet's blast shield over my eyes. I was still not ready for the 'rapid-fire' option yet. But I was getting much better on it.

"Good, Ben! You're picking up on this very well."

_It's easy to get motivated when you learn that you're 'the Second Arm!'_ In between deflecting bolts, I responded with, "Thank you, Master." Suddenly, I noticed that the remote didn't shoot its next bolt when it should have. _Huh? What's going_—

Before I even had a chance to think I whipped my lightsaber over my head, parallel to my back and felt it deflect a bolt. _Yes! I did it! _I extinguished my lightsaber and pulled the helmet off and I looked over to Master Skywalker who smiled as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "Good, Ben. Good! You're finally learning to split your alertness to your whole surroundings. Only..." Master Skywalker motioned for me to turn around.

When I did, I saw three pieces of what used to be a remote, lying on the ground. "Oops. I guess I accidentally deflected the bolt back at the remote. I'm sorry, Master."

"Don't be. It's a difficult thing to do. Plus, it allows me to give you your next challenge in your training."

"What's that?"

"Repairing a remote."

"Oh." I laughed a little and said, "I understand, Master."

"I'll show you how after the evening meal." Master Skywalker started walking back into the Academy after that.

"Yes, Master." As I began to walk in, I was met in the doorway once again. This time, not by Tallah. "Hi, Guild."

Guild looked a little sickly. Like he hadn't been sleeping very well or eating very much. "Hi, Ben. Look, about what happened a few days ago, I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"It's all right, Guild. I probably haven't been much of a friend the past few weeks. It's been a while since all four of us have done anything."

"You've been kept pretty busy. I guess I was...just, you know...a little...jealous."

"Well, it's almost time to eat, and I'm pretty hungry. How about we go get Tallah and Ryndell, then get some food?"

Guild seemed to brighten up for the first time and said, "Yeah. Okay."

---------------------------------------------

That night after dinner, I was sitting at my desk in my room with the pieces of the remote that I blew up that afternoon. _I'm really not a mechanic. But hell, I built a lightsaber! This shouldn't be too difficult. _As I got the final piece into place, I put the casing back on. _Okay! I think I got it._

To test it out, I turned it on and toss it into the air. It went high up into the air...and then without hesitation fell right back down to the floor. I just stood there for a few beats staring at it on the floor. _Okay_..._maybe I _don't_ got it. _I walked over to the remote and Bent over to pick it up. I put it back on my desk. _I'm going to sleep. I'll work on it some more tomorrow after my run and meditation._

I laid down onto my bed and closed my eyes. _The Second Arm of the Force_..._it's nice to finally know why it is that I'm here. That just leaves the questions of how I got here? And who it was that sent me? But in time, I think I'll figure it all out. I just need to remember to have patience._

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...The Greatest of Gifts.


	4. The Greatest of Gifts

**-The Greatest of Gifts-**

_The 20th Anniversary of the Jedi Academy is coming up. To show their gratitude to Master Skywalker for everything that he has done, all of the Knights and students will be doing something for him. But Ben knows what he can give to Master Skywalker that no one else can. The greatest gift he can give, the knowledge of his father and mother._

A period of about six weeks went by before something new happened at the Academy. Master Skywalker had left to speak with the New Republic just that morning and would be gone for a week. I heard him say something about, _"Politicians and their love to line their pockets with funding needed elsewhere."_

In the evening of that same day, all students of the Academy were called to the Throne Room by Master Jade-Skywalker. _This is a little strange. She doesn't usually do many things with the students._

As Tallah, Guild, Ryndell and I walked through the doors of the Throne Room, we saw not only students, but Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters. _Every Jedi in the galaxy must be here! _As more and more Jedi poured into the quickly filling Throne Room, we all went to sit down at a Bench.

After everyone was all settled in, Master Jade-Skywalker took her place in front of the podium. Close behind her was the entire Skywalker/Solo family. "Hello to all Jedi and Jedi Padawans. As you may or may not beware, one week from today will mark the Twentieth anniversary of the Jedi Academy. On that first day, all this place consisted of was Luke and twelve Jedi-hopefuls. Now, this Throne Room is filled with many Jedi Knights and all of you students who are still working to get there. To show our gratitude to Luke for all that he's worked and sacrificed for, we will be holding a celebration for him. Any of you who would like to be a part of it, we will greet him when he returns from Coruscant. Have anything you plan be ready by then. Thank you."

After she was finished, there was a loud murmur among the students in the Throne Room while all of the Jedi Knights remained relatively quiet. _It looks like the students were the only ones who didn't know about this yet._

Ryndell interrupted my thoughts. "So what should we get Master Skywalker?"

_I know what I'd like to be able to give him. Knowledge of his family. This is the perfect time to finally be able to tell him. It's been killing me to hold it in. But how will I be able to tell him? How'll I answer him when he asks me how I know this? 'Well, the life of the Skywalker family are six movies where I come from, and I've seen them' is hardly a reasonable answer. Even if it is how I know._

_Maybe what I'll have to do is go to Tatooine and Naboo and ask around to people. That way, it'll be like I'm learning as I'm going. Yeah, and that way, maybe I can get some holos of them and give those to Master Skywalker too. This is going to be the greatest gift I could possibly give to him. _"I've got an idea."

---------------------------------------------

"You want to leave the Academy for an entire week without any protection?"

I was talking in private with Master Jade-Skywalker, trying to persuade her to allow me and my friends to go out on our own. "I know that this may seem premature for us to leave on our own, but we won't be gone that long. We're a ways from becoming Jedi Knights, I know, but we're not exactly helpless anymore. And I'll have my lightsaber with me."

"Why is it that you have to leave? What are you going after?"

_Man, I was afraid of this. What do I say? _"Well...if it's all right, I'd much rather keep it a secret right now."

"Ben, if you're not willing to be open with me, then this conversation is over right now."

"Wait! Okay. Umm...I have reason to believe that I know where I can find information about the lives of Master Skywalker's parents. Through some research, I found some rumors about possible places that Anakin Skywalker and his wife lived. I want to go to their homeworlds, find out about them. Get some disks about them and maybe also get some holos of them. I thought that after all this time, Master Skywalker should know where he came from."

Master Jade-Skywalker was silent for a moment before she said, "All right. I'll allow you all to leave, but I'm putting a homing beacon on your ship so that I know where you are. And I expect you to contact the Academy every twelve hours to let us know that everything is fine. If you're so much as 10 minutes late in contacting Yavin IV, I'll assume something is wrong and send someone out for you. And they will bring you back home. Is that a deal?"

"Yes, it is."

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On most occasions, we would've waited until the next morning before leaving, but since our time was limited, we had everything ready for take off to leave that evening. Like almost all Corellians, Ryndell had a good amount of experience in piloting, so she took the controls to the ship.

It had been a while since the last time Ryndell had flown a ship and anyone could see that she was anxious to be at it again. "Well, we got the coordinates to Tatooine. How about we get out of here?"

"Let's do it." Guild took a seat in the co-pilot's chair, while Tallah and I sat down in the seats behind them.

As the engines roared to life, we took off in the sky and flew above the tall Massassi trees of Yavin. I took it all in as we sailed up higher and out of the atmosphere. In a couple more minutes, we entered hyperspace towards the Outer Rim of the galaxy. Luke's homeworld, Tatooine. _For the first time, we're really out here on our own. Master Jade-Skywalker never actually said it, but I know she put me in charge. I hope I'm leader material._

---------------------------------------------

I never fully understood how hot a planet with two suns could get until we left hyperspace and entered Tatooine's atmosphere. _Damn, it's hot on this planet! I can already feel it and we're still in the ship!_

Ryndell turned her head towards me and asked, "So when I get to Mos Espa, should I land at the outskirts?"

After thinking it over for a few minutes, I said, "No, that's not necessary. We're not doing anything secretive. But still, don't reveal yourself as a Jedi unless you have to, okay? There's still plenty of people in the galaxy who don't like being around Jedi."

Guild seemed to grumble as he folded his arms. "I still don't get it. After everything the Jedi have done for this galaxy, people still hate us. And still want us dead."

Tallah responded softly to him, "They don't hate us, Guild. They're afraid of us. They don't understand the Force and how it gives us power that they can never use. That scares them. And I think also makes them a bit envious."

"I don't know how you can be so forgiving of them. Their envy of our power doesn't give them the right to treat us as lower life forms."

"No, it doesn't Guild. But if you think about it, it's kind of sad, the way they feel. I feel sorry for them. Most people will never be able to see or know anything beyond what their eyes and ears deliver to them. They can never experience life in the same ways that we can. How can you hate somebody you feel sorry for?"

Guild didn't say anything. He just sat there and nodded. He hadn't completely changed his mind about the people of the galaxy who were anti-Jedi. But it was easy to see that he had another way to look at it.

_Tallah's really becoming wise in the ways of the Force. _My thoughts were interrupted as Ryndell called out, "There it is on the horizon. Mos Espa."

"The old home of Anakin Skywalker. We all need to stay on our toes and be mindful of everything."

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Ryndell landed the ship into the first docking bay we came across. As we all walked out, we breathed in unison as we were hit even harder by the brutal heat of Tatooine's suns. I made an effort to wear my jacket in a way that hid my lightsaber, hanging at my belt. "Well Tallah, this is your homeworld. Where do you think we should start off?"

After thinking for a moment, Tallah said, "I never spent lots of time in Mos Espa, but I think about ½ of a mile down this way are where the mechanic shops are. If Anakin used to work in one, then maybe there are some older people there that remember him."

I nodded and said, "Good thinking, Tallah. You all heard her. Let's go."

The walk wasn't nearly as long as the runs I took every morning, but with the twin suns pouring down on us, fatigue began sooner than usual. I felt the sweat beginning to build on my face until I had to lift my jacket to my face to wipe away the sweat. Just as I began to wipe my forehead, I felt a hand grab my arm and tug it back to my waist.

I turned to see Guild standing there. "When you lifted your jacket up, you could see your lightsaber hanging there. That could've drawn some unwanted attention."

"Oh, right. Thanks Guild." _Some leader. I can't believe I did something that stupid so early in the game._

---------------------------------------------

We went to shop after shop and as the day drew to a close, we heard the same responses over and over.

"_Anakin Skywalker? Nope. Never heard of him." _

"_Yeah, I think I heard of him. Isn't he the one in charge of that Jedi Academy?"_

"_Anakin Skywalker_..._Yeah, I know who he is, but he left long before I got here. Sorry." _

As we walked out of the last shop in Mos Espa, I was beginning to think that this was a lost cause. _I guess Palpatine just did too thorough of a job wiping out history during his reign._

Guild must've been thinking the same thing I was because he said, "Well, this was all time well spent. Why don't we just go ahead and go home? The heat is driving me crazy."

I was about to agree with him when I felt pain coming from nearby. I turned around to face everybody and said, "You feel that?"

They all nodded quickly and we sprinted off towards the pain. As we got closer, I heard the sound of an old man in pain and some younger men laughing. Every few seconds I heard the sound of a hit. Finally, we came across four young men that didn't look a whole lot older than me. Two of them were as tall as me, one a little taller, and one that was about another head taller. At their feet was an old man lying on the ground. His clothes were torn up a bit and his face was covered in blood. I shouted, "Hey! Leave that old man alone!"

They all turned around at us and stopped laughing. The tallest one, obviously the leader, walked up to me and said very slowly, "This is personal. Turn around and walk away before we have to mess you up too." The rest of his gang walked up in a line right behind him.

Without blinking, I looked right back up at him and said, "I'm making it personal. Leave the old man alone. Looks can be deceiving; you may be beginning a fight you don't want to begin."

He and his friends began to laugh out loud. The one a little taller than I was suddenly lunged at me. Instinctively, Guild threw his hand up and the man stopped in mid air and went back a few feet before hitting the ground. The rest of them turned their heads to see their fallen friend, then turned back around to face us. Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell all lined up right behind me.

Looking around to make sure no one else was around, I threw my jacket back behind me and flashed my lightsaber to them and just stared hard into the leader's eyes. Two of the remaining gang members took a couple steps back, but the leader wouldn't budge. The member on his left put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Rax, come on. Let's get out of here. I don't wanna fight no Jedi."

Rax turned around and yelled, "I don't back down! Ever!"

The member on his right said, "Are you insane? Fighting four Jedi would be like fighting ten normal people! Let's go!"

"I said, I don't back—"

He slowly turned around back to us and saw me with my hand raised up. "What you're feeling right now is called a 'Force Strangle.' Only very loose. Believe me, I can make this a whole lot tighter. Even snap your neck if I feel like it. If you all turn around, pick-up your friend and walk away, I'll let you go. Got it?"

He nodded slowly once. His eyes were full of fear. He turned around and the other gang members picked up their friend and began to walk away. After they were about 10 feet away, I let go and could see his shoulders collapse in relief to be released. Then at once, they took off down another alley. When they were out of sight, we also breathed in relief that we had succeeded.

Ryndell looked at me and said, "I don't know if that was exactly how a Jedi should act, Ben."

I shrugged and said, "I did what needed to be done and no one was hurt."

As we all gathered around the old man, Tallah held him so that he could sit up. The old man moaned in pain and Tallah muttered, "How can people be so cruel to an old man?"

The old man suddenly began to react. "Who is that?" He reached out with his hand and put it on my face. "Who are you?"

I waved my hand in front of his face a few times, but he didn't notice it. _The old man is blind. _"My name is Ben. I'm with my friends Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell. We're Jedi Padawans."

The old man smiled and said, "Jedi...He went off to be a Jedi...He was the only fun I had as a slave. My friend...My best friend." The old man's smile became a quiet sob.

_Oh my god! This is_..._this is Kitster! Anakin's childhood friend! Wait, play this out right. Make it into a question. _"Uh, you might be old enough. Do you remember a boy who used to live here named Anakin Skywalker?"

"Anakin...No, I didn't just know him. He was my best friend."

Softly, Tallah asked, "What's your name, sir?"

"Don't call me sir. I never did anything in my long life to deserve to be called sir by anyone. You may call me Kitster."

_Yes! I was right! This is perfect! _"We have to get to our ship soon to report in. Would you please come with us so that we can talk? We have some supplies to take care of your wounds."

"What docking bay are you at?"

"We're at docking bay 138."

"That's a long ways from here and I'm afraid I can't go that far."

"It's okay. We'll help you. I don't think you realize how much your existence will mean to somebody very important in this galaxy."

---------------------------------------------

After we got back to the ship, Tallah began to clean and bandage Kitster's wounds. Ryndell and I went to the cockpit to report in to the Jedi Academy. When Ryndell turned on the com-link and set it to Yavin, a voice came over the speaker." Hello? State your name."

I spoke up and said, "This is Ben, reporting in from Tatooine."

After a minute, another voice came over the speaker. It was Master Jade-Skywalker. "Ben? How are things progressing? Is everyone all right?"

"Yes. Everyone is just fine. We just called it a day and came back to the ship. We're at a docking bay in Mos Espa."

"Have you made any progress yet?"

"Yes, we have. Just as we were calling it a night, we found some gang beating up on an old, blind man. After we got them to leave, we found out that this old man was best friend's with Luke's father when he was a boy."

"What have you found out so far?"

"Nothing yet. Right now, Tallah's dressing his wounds, then we'll talk for a little while before going to sleep."

"Be careful. This isn't somebody you know, so be mindful."

"Don't worry, we will. And I think we can trust him. This is Ben, signing out."

"Good night."

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After reporting in to Master Jade-Skywalker, Ryndell and I left the cockpit. When we entered the sitting room, Kitster was sitting in between Tallah and Guild. Kitster was telling them some story about Anakin. I held back at the doorway and listened for a while.

"—and he was always so talented at everything he did. Especially at fixing things. He was only nine years old and was one of the best pod racers on Tatooine. Of course, he never finished a race because of another racer named Sebulba. He was always very threatened by Anakin and did everything he could while racing to take him out. Up until his last race. The championship race at Boonta Eve. Where he finally got even with Sebulba and took him out of the race and won first place. After he won, we were all so happy that I thought it was the greatest day of my life...but after I heard that he'd been freed and was leaving, it turned into the worst day of my life. The day when I lost the one thing that made my life as a slave a little better." Kitster stopped then and began to sob again.

That's when I stepped in and said, "We don't want to upset you, Kitster. We appreciate that you came here to help us."

"Think nothing of it. But you said something before we left, you said something about me being important to somebody else. I've lived my entire life in Mos Espa. Who could you be talking about?"

"I'm talking about Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo, the former Chief of State to the New Republic; the children of Anakin Skywalker. You very well may be the only person alive with knowledge that these two people need."

"I'll help in any way that I can."

"Thank you, Kitster. It's been a long day, though. How about we get some sleep first?"

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Early the next morning, we went out and rented a landspeeder to go out to the Boonta Eve arena. I wanted to see if there were some old holos of the Boonta Eve podrace where Anakin won his freedom. Maybe even some old articles about the event.

Guild and I hopped out of the speeder as Ryndell brought it to a halt in front of the arena. Tallah got out and took Kitster's hand to help him out of the ship onto the ground. He looked very appreciative of her. "Thank you, young one. I'm not as young as I used to be and being blind makes it that much more difficult to get around."

Guild looked at him and said, "Aren't there any places around here where you could get something to help your eyesight?"

"Yes, I've heard of procedures that have been discovered, but only the rich are able to afford them."

After giving Guild an elbow in the side for his rudeness, I said, "Well, when we get you to Yavin IV, I'm positive that Master Skywalker will do what he can for you." _It might not be a good idea to just leave the speeder here unattended. Plus, I don't want to do anything to tire out Kitster too much. _"Ryndell, why don't you and Kitster stay here and keep an eye on the speeder?"

Ryndell looked a little disappointed but nodded and said, "Yeah, all right Ben." I whispered so that only she could hear, "I'm doing you a favor. This is going to be a lot of study and research things. I know you hate it, so instead, you can stay with the landspeeder." After that, she seemed more content to wait with the speeder.

As Guild, Tallah and I walked through the entrance of the empty arena, we began to look around for people that might work there. Soon, we saw an old shriveled man walking about and we approached him carefully. "Excuse me," I said and he turned around. "Do you know if there are by any chance somewhere we could go to find old clippings and holos of events that happened here?"

The old man thought for a moment and said in a rough, scratchy voice, "Well, that depends. Exactly how old are we talking here?"

"Uhhh..." I thought for a moment and replied, "About sixty-five years ago."

The old man exhaled loudly and said, "Well, that might be a little tough. We do have an old library of past events, but a lot of the really old stuff was destroyed when the Empire was in control."

Guild pounded a fist into his other hand and said, "Damn Empire!"

"Most of the stuff in there is about forty, forty-five years old. At the most fifty. But if you'd like to look, you could get lucky." He pointed around him in the direction that he was leaving. "It's way down there; you can't miss it. There's a sign that says, 'Record Archives.' Just help yourself. No one's been there for years."

"Thank you very much."

"Sure. Good luck." The old man continued on his way, with Guild and Tallah saying their thanks and good-bye's.

As the doors to the Record Archive creaked open, our mouths dropped open. The room was immensely large and filled with disks of information. The smell of dust was thick in the air. _How are we going to find anything in here?_

Guild was obviously not too thrilled, either. "Great...how is anybody supposed to look up anything in here?"

Tallah, trying to play the optimist said, "Well, maybe it's all in chronological order."

"But what if it's not? What then?"

After taking a deep breath, I replied, "Well, there's only one way to find out."

---------------------------------------------

With the pile of checked disks that came up with nothing getting bigger and bigger, we all began to wonder if we'd ever be able to find anything about Anakin Skywalker. After stretching my arms and suppressing a yawn, I asked, "Either of you find anything yet?"

Guild looked up from his computer and said, "What do you think? Of course we haven't! We're never going to find anything. We already have Anakin's childhood friend waiting for us by the speeder, why not move on to Naboo and search for his mother's records?"

I was about to agree with him when Tallah spoke up. "Hold on a minute there. I think I may have found something. A list of past Boonta Eve Podracing champions." After scanning, she got excited and said, "Yes! Here it is! Anakin Skywalker!"

Guild and I jumped up and looked at her screen. Tallah continued reading. "It even has a link to the article that was written about him."

When the article appeared on the screen, it showed a picture of Anakin with his arms raised in the air and a crowd of people around him, cheering. Also in the picture, it showed Anakin sitting on the shoulders of Qui-Gon Jinn. The article read, _"LOCAL BOY WINS BOONTA EVE AND FREEDOM."_

We all jumped to our feet and began to celebrate. In the excitement, Tallah and I hugged and I kissed her on the cheek. Our eyes locked for a moment before we quickly let go of each other. I felt blood rushing into my face. "Uh, why don't we grab that disk and get out of here?"

Tallah began to blush too and said, "Yeah, I'll do that."

Guild was too excited to notice the nervous tension between Tallah and I. He sprinted out of the room, no doubt getting back to the speeder to tell Ryndell and Kitster. Feeling the awkwardness of being by ourselves, Tallah and I quickly left the room together without saying a word.

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By the time we got back to Mos Espa and returned the landspeeder and got back to our ship, it was nighttime. I figured that since we were done on Tatooine anyway, and that Naboo was going to be a day and a half flight, we should go ahead and get going. That way, we wouldn't be wasting eight hours in a docking bay, when we could be getting closer to Naboo. "We can check-in once we're in hyperspace."

Once Ryndell got the coordinates from the navi-computer, she pulled the lever and put the ship into hyperspace. As everyone began to leave the bridge of the ship, Guild offered to call the Jedi Academy to check-in and let Master Jade-Skywalker know we were all right. I appreciatively agreed. Kitster decided to go to sleep and Ryndell offered to help him to his bed, which he graciously accepted. Ryndell turned to me and said, "I think I'll go to bed too."

When they were gone, I flopped down onto the couch in the main room, exhausted. Tallah came in and sat down on the far end of the couch, as far away from me as she could sit.

After a few moments of silence I asked, "Tallah, could I ask you a question?"

Obviously getting a little tense about that, she answered, "I suppose so. What is it?"

I sat forward and chose my words carefully. "Well, this is your homeworld right? It's just that I assumed that at some point, you would've wanted to visit your family. How come you haven't even brought it up? It must have been a while since you've seen them last. We've been training for six months now."

Tears began to well up in Tallah's eyes, so she looked down at the floor. "It's been a lot longer than six months since I've seen my family. They all died a little over a year ago."

After letting out a sigh, I said, "Oh. Tallah, I'm...I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right. There's no way that you could have known that. I don't like to think about it, much less say it out loud."

"Do you mind if I ask how it happened?"

With difficulty, Tallah cleared her throat and tried to keep her voice from trembling. "They took me on an archaeological dig in the Jundland Wastes. It was just my parents, their assistant, and I. We went into a cave, while their assistant waited outside inspecting some rare kind of flora. We had gone about twenty meters when my dad told me to stop there so that they could inspect a little further to make sure it was all safe. They would call for me if they decided that it was."

Tallah stifled a choke in her voice. "I began to sprint out of the cave a few seconds before they hollered for me to run. A voice in the back of my mind told me that there was danger there. That I had to get out before it was too late. Somehow, I knew that the cave was about to collapse. I made it out of the cave and saw my parents coming. They almost made it out before...before it collapsed and they were crushed to death. If only...if only I had warned them when I could have, they would've gotten out. Despite everything that I've been told, I can't help but feel like it was my fault."

Tallah looked at me and said, "There were some stories that went out about my story in the cave. Several months after that, Master Tionne came to me saying that she had heard about what happened. She tested me for Force potential and invited me to come and train at the Academy." She closed her eyes and said very slowly, "If only I had said something when the realization hit me."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. I said softly, "And no one would have written that story. And Master Tionne would never have found you. And you wouldn't be training to be a Jedi Knight right now. And...I never would have met you. You never would have helped me defeat my Dark Side. I was taught once that a door is never closed without opening a window. Maybe—maybe I'm that window."

Tallah looked at me again, a little surprised. Feeling more confident than before, I pulled in closer to her. I placed my hand behind her neck and placed my lips onto hers.

We began to kiss for a couple of seconds before she suddenly pulled back and jumped to her feet. "What are you doing? We can't, Ben! We just can't! We're going to be Jedi, Ben! How can we have a relationship, knowing that either one of us could be killed at any time?"

I stood up and looked into her eyes. "I know that, Tallah. I understand it, but it's just..." I continued to stare at her. _Say it! Just say it, Ben! Take a chance for once in your life! _After a sigh, I just said, "Nothing. Never mind. I'm sorry."

I stepped around her and walked to my quarters without another word. _Why can't you say what you want to her? Why can't you tell her how much she means to you? What are you afraid of? You don't have anyone making fun of you here and you still have no guts. What the hell's the matter with you?_

---------------------------------------------

We were in the middle of the fourth day of our week to collect all of our information by the time we pulled out of hyperspace near the Naboo system. Time was beginning to press and I was wondering if it was even possible for us to finish on time. And the pain of being rejected by Tallah for a second time didn't make things much easier. She barely said one word to me anymore.

"Well Ben, here we are. Naboo."

"Okay Ryndell, check the map for the coordinates on the palace in Theed."

Guild seemed to realize something and said, "Ben, how exactly are we going to get into Theed palace? They're not expecting us, so all they're going to see are four kids who want to walk around the palace snooping around for information. Just how do you propose that we get in there and find out what we need to know?"

I though for a while and signed, "Well, I guess we're just going to have to walk to the front gate, explain who we are and why we're there. Then, we'll just have to hope for the best."

"Yeah, well what if they won't let us in?"

I shrugged and said, "We can cross that bridge if we have to."

---------------------------------------------

After we landed the ship, I suggested to Kitster that it might be best if he stayed on the ship. He was more than willing to agree. He said that all of the traveling had left him more tired than usual.

Tallah spoke up, "I can stay with the ship to keep an eye on things."

I said without thinking about what I was saying, "Kitster will be fine on his own. This is a peaceful world. I need you." After Tallah's eyes widened and I realized what I said, I quickly responded with, "I mean, _we_ need you—in the group."

After we got to the front gates of the Theed Palace, we were met by a guard who asked us who we were.

I stood in front of the group and said, "My name is Ben and I'm in charge of this group of Jedi Padawans. We'd like to come in and speak with whoever is in charge."

The guard looked a skeptical eye over us and said, "I'm sorry, but no one comes into the palace that is not expected by Queen Jamilla."

_Queen Jamilla?? How can she still be in charge? But you can only serve two four-year terms as queen on Naboo. _"Well, perhaps if you allow us to explain ourselves to her why we are here—"

"That would fail the point of no one seeing her without ahead notice, wouldn't it? Go on and get going. Take the field trip someplace else, _Padawan_."

The way that the guard used the word 'Padawan' would've upset any student at the Jedi academy. It was obvious that he figured any Jedi without the title of 'Knight' couldn't do very much.

Guild had obviously interpreted it in the same way that I did, because he took a few steps toward the guard, fuming and said, "You're in for a real surprise—"

I held up an arm and stopped Guild from doing something that could start some blaster fire. I took my next couple of actions very carefully. I opened my jacket a bit in a way that would make the guard see that I had a lightsaber on my belt. "Listen. Things are getting a little too intense here." I gave the guard a look with a touch of sternness in my eyes. "I'm sure this can all go over very smoothly, while still avoiding any unpleasantness. Can't you just let us speak with her?"

The guard began to sweat a little, I noticed. He nodded a little bit and said, "Well, I can't just let you into the throne room. I can comm. from here and let you speak with her. Then she can decide if she wants to speak with you."

I nodded and said, "That's fair." I let go of my jacket and it fell back over my lightsaber.

The guard's body appeared to relax at that moment and he said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go make contact. He went over to the radio transmitter and began to push some buttons.

I looked over at Tallah and said, "You have a better way with words than I do. You want to speak with her?"

Tallah looked a little flustered and said, "Are you sure you shouldn't do it? You're the one in charge."

"And you have a better way with words and diplomacy."

Tallah finally nodded and took the com-link from the guard when he came back. The voice of an older woman came through asking, "This is Queen Jamilla, ruler of Naboo. What is it that you wish to speak with me about?"

Tallah said in a loud clear voice, "We are students of the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. As a gift for all that he has done in replenishing the Jedi Knights in this galaxy, we are collecting as much information about his family as we can. We are now looking for information on his mother, Padmé Amidala-Skywalker. We know that she was once a queen of Naboo and wish to know more about her. If you can spare some of your time to impart any of your knowledge of her, it would be infinitely appreciated."

I smiled and thought, _Like I said before, you have a wonderful way with words._

After a few moments, Queen Jamilla responded, "Very well. You will be granted access to the palace. I would be honored to be the one to finally pass down the legacy of Padmé Amidala-Skywalker."

----------------------------------------------

We all came through the large doorway into the throne room of Theed Palace. It looked more simply decorated than it had been in the days of the Old Republic. _I guess that makes sense. After the rule of the Empire fell, some systems are still trying to rebuild to their old days._

As we met Queen Jamilla in her throne, we all bowed our heads and I said, "Your Highness, thank you for allowing us to come and speak with you."

Queen Jamilla nodded and asked, "What is it that you wish to know?"

I smiled and said, "More than there is time to say. But we are willing to trust you in what is most important to know."

Queen Jamilla thought for a moment and said, "She was very devoted to her people. When she was the queen of Naboo, she was such a great and loving queen that the people even tried to amend the laws so that she could stay in office after her two terms were up. That only happened for me, because when the Empire took over, the people of Naboo wanted to make sure that whoever they had as ruler of their system would be someone not on the payroll of the Empire.

"But back to Padmé, after her two terms were up, I asked her to run for senator, which she very easily won. She could have had a very great career in politics...until she met Anakin Skywalker. I never understood how a Jedi could find it within himself to fall in love. They were forbidden from it all their lives. It seems too dangerous for people born with so much power to allow themselves the risks of allowing their passions to run away with their minds."

I looked over at Tallah, who had a very serious and somber look on her face. Obviously, she had been thinking the very same things. Queen Jamilla looked at all of us and smiled, "Oh, do not misunderstand me. I understood why they married. When I saw them, I do not believe I ever saw two people more in love. It _is_ a shame when sometimes, love just simply isn't enough."

As the time passed by, we all sat down and listened to Queen Jamilla tell us more and more about Padmé. When she was done, we all stood up and stretched. _Well, I think I'm thoroughly spoiled for Episode III now._ "Thank you for all of your help, Your Highness. I don't suppose you have any holos of her and disks of information on her life, do you? As something to give Master Skywalker?"

Queen Jamilla was more than happy to oblige and gave us all that she could spare. After our final thanks, we left the palace and made our way back to the ship. When we got there, we realized that we were just barely going to be in time to check in with Master Jade-Skywalker. After checking in, we decided to go on our way back to Yavin IV. We had everything we'd need.

After taking a seat in the pilot's chair and checking over the coordinates back to Yavin, Ryndell said, "Uh, Ben? We have two days to get back to Yavin and the trip is going about half a day longer than that."

I ran to her and said, "What? We're going to miss the anniversary celebration?"

Reluctantly, Ryndell nodded and said, "That's the way it looks to me."

Guild asked her, "Is there anything we can possibly do?"

Ryndell shook her head and said, "None that I know of."

I sighed and flopped into another seat in the cockpit. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, let's at least back to the academy as soon as we can."

After we went into hyperspace, my face fell into my hands. _I failed. My first mission as a Jedi and I ruined everything. God, I'm so stupid!_

---------------------------------------------

As we lowered the ship back into the docking bay on Yavin IV, we walked slowly out of the ship, with Kitster helped out by Tallah. As we walked through the docking bay, a young padawan from our class came running up to us and asked, "Hey, where've you guys been all week? You're missing the celebration!"

Guild looked at him and asked, "What are you talking about? Master Skywalker should have arrived home about ten hours ago."

The padawan said, "Well, Master Skywalker's ship was delayed in Coruscant several hours and did you expect the party to start exactly when he got back? He needed some rest, after all."

We all looked at each other and sprinted our way nonstop to the Throne Room. We walked through in time to see a couple of students holding wooden rods in a mock lightsaber fight. The bigger one was in all black and was obviously supposed to be Darth Vader. _They're doing a re-enactment of Darth Vader and Master Skywalker's first duel. _

Master Skywalker sat off to the side watching it with a big grin on his face and his chin in his hand, with his elbow propped up on his knee. Nearby was also a stone statue of himself with his lightsaber ignited in a stance of defiance. _That has to be a gift of Leia or Mara's._

The fight concluded with the other student shoving his right hand into his sleeve and screaming out in pain. Everyone erupted in laughter and began to clap. The two students bowed to the crowd as Master Skywalker rose up to his feet and clasped a hand on each of their backs.

Master Jade-Skywalker rose up and went to the front of the crowd. You could see that she was trying to hide the fact that she wasn't particularly proud of two students poking fun at the fight that lost her husband's right hand. Nevertheless, she smiled and said "Well, I believed that that's all we have."

I shouted out at that moment, "Wait! We still have our gift!" We walked down to the front of the stage, as everyone turned around to face us. When we reached the stage, Guild and Ryndell handed the holos and disks we received and I went to the podium and said, "As a gift to Master Skywalker, we went on a one week mission to try and piece together the story of how Anakin Skywalker met the woman who would one day become his wife and give birth to Luke and Leia Skywalker. I'm proud to say that we succeeded."

There was a loud chatter in the large room after that. I motioned to the holos that were in Master Skywalker's hands. "We also retrieved several disks of their lives and holos of what they looked like in their youth. I will now tell the story of Anakin Skywalker...and Padmé Amidala."

After clearing my throat I began with, "She was the fourteen year old queen of Naboo; he was a nine year old slave on Tatooine. Who would have thought that two such differing people could ever find love in the other? From Anakin's humble beginnings, he was discovered by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Jedi Apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As is common knowledge, he was later taken on as an apprentice by Master Kenobi.

"From the moment that Anakin laid eyes on Padmé, he knew that she would be the woman he would spend his life with. But when he finally grew into a man, there was a hard truth that he had to try to accept; Jedi were not allowed to marry. Their love was forbidden. But they were so in love with one another, that nothing else mattered to them..."

--------------------------------------------

Later that night as I walked through the hallways of the Academy, I heard the voices Master Skywalker and Kitster having a conversation about Anakin. I couldn't help but smile about the fact that I had helped the Skywalker family finish piecing together the last unknowns of their family's history.

I reached my destination at the door of Tallah's quarters. I took a deep breath and let it out before I finally knocked. I could tell that Tallah was surprised to see me at her door. "Ben...what do you want?"

"Well, first could I come in?"

After a few seconds, Tallah agreed and motioned me in. She closed the door and asked me again, "So, what is it?"

"I have a question for you, Tallah." I turned around and looked her right in the eye. "Would it be any easier for you to accept me if I weren't so strong in the Force?"

Tallah looked off guard for that one and said, "Well, you are, so what's the point in discussing it?"

"You're afraid that you could do to me what Padmé did to Anakin Skywalker. I know that's what it is. But it doesn't have to be that way."

Tallah began to get a little upset. "Why are you trying to make this so hard for me?"

"I'm sorry, Tallah. But I remember something you told me once. When I was afraid of becoming a second Darth Vader, trying to overcome my anger. You told me that no Jedi is bound by another's fate. We all make our own choices life. You were right."

"But...what if you have to go somewhere in a week and you get killed? What would all this really add up to?"

I finally mustered up all the courage I could and walked straight up to her as close as I could and put my arms around her waist. I said in a whisper, "It would mean the happiest week of my entire life. And I hope that it would be yours too."

Tears began to well up in Tallah's eyes, but she made no effort to hide them or break free from me. She also whispered, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to try and get you to stop this, even when I don't want you to? How hard it is to have to reject someone that you—"

Tallah stopped herself from saying that last word, but I knew what she was going to say. I nodded and leaned in to kiss her. As we began to kiss, I felt her finish her sentence in her mind. _–love._

As we continued to kiss, I felt myself begin to pour out emotions that I had forgotten that I had. When the kiss ended, I looked into her eyes and felt a bit of sadness. She looked at me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I never broke eye contact with her and said, "Well, I have a problem. Now that I've kissed you, I'm never going to be able to let go." We just stood there smiling at each other, because we both knew that no matter what, we never would.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...The Second Arm of the Force I: Battle Dawn


	5. Battle Dawn

**-The Second Arm of the Force-**

**-Part One - Battle Dawn-**

_It is one month later and Ben is being sent out with other Jedi Knights on his first real mission ever. This is a very special mission that's intentions are known only to those going out. If anything leaks out, it could give birth to great chaos among the Jedi of an adolescent Order._

A sound one late night in my quarters made me sit up. I heard the sound, but at first couldn't identify it. I sat there and waited to see if it would return. A few seconds later, I heard a knocking on my door.

I got to my feet and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I staggered my way to the door. When I opened it, I saw a protocol droid standing there. In a hushed voice, it said, "I beg your pardon for the interruption during your slumber, but your presence is requested for a private meeting in the Throne Room as soon as possible."

"Oh." _I wonder what this is all about. _"I'll be down as soon as I get dressed. Thank you."

The protocol droid tilted its head in what looked like confusion. This droid was obviously not accustomed to having people thank him. "Your welcome." After that, it began to walk away down the hall.

I shut my door again and turned on the light. I got dressed, but didn't bother to comb my hair or strap on my lightsaber. _Well, let's see what's going on now_...

---------------------------------------------

When I got into the Throne Room, I saw only four other Jedi at the far end. I felt a little out of place, because they were: Master Jade-Skywalker, Master Durron, Jacen Solo, and Tenel Ka. Of the five of us, I was the only apprentice in the room. To say that I felt out of place would be like saying that an ocean feels wet. _What am I doing here?_

Jacen smiled at me and said, "Hello, Ben. You seem to have been making a name for yourself in the past several months."

I shrugged and smiled back, "Well, to some anyway. Do you know what this is all about?"

Jacen shook his head and said, "No, none of us do. The only one who does is Uncle Luke. We're still waiting for him."

Soon afterwards, Master Skywalker stepped into the room and approached us. He told us that we could all sit down and after we did, he gave his speech. "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. If I am correct in what I am thinking, then the galaxy may be turned upside down very soon. But until we know for sure, I will not needlessly upset the Academy."

Master Skywalker paused for a moment as he looked at all of us. "I have sensed a powerful darkness from far away. It first hit my senses nearly eight months ago and I have been trying to trace it ever since then."

Master Durron spoke up. "Since you have called us together, can we then assume that you've traced it to its source?"

Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, I have Kyp. I've traced it to the Onderon system. More specifically, the moon of Dxun."

I felt my heart skip a beat along with everyone else's in the room. _Oh, my god! That's where Darth Bane stationed and hid the last Order of the Sith after the Great Sith War!_

Master Skywalker continued. "The large presence of the power of the Dark Side and where it is coming from allows me to come to only one conclusion. The Sith have indeed endured and are growing stronger. I believe we may finally have the final battle of the Jedi and the Sith."

Tenel Ka asked, "So where do we come in?"

Master Skywalker replied, "We are all going to take three ships onto Dxun. Each ship will have a Jedi Master and a Jedi Knight. We will keep each other on constant communication. We will leave in the morning. And remember, all that we are telling the rest of the Academy is that we are going on a mission. The details of what we are doing are strictly on a must-know basis. Go on and get some sleep. We'll all need it. And believe me, no one is hoping that I am wrong more than I."

---------------------------------------------

That morning, I woke up and got dressed in the earth-colored clothes Master Skywalker gave me. I put on my new utility belt, a small blaster into its holster and a large dagger with its scabbard on my right thigh. I flung a tan backpack over my shoulders and finally hooked my lightsaber to my belt. Now that I was all set, I took two running steps at my open door, but was stopped before I reached it.

Tallah stood in the doorway, with tears welling up in her eyes. She whispered, "You see? This is what I was afraid of."

_Tallah_..._I can't believe I forgot about her in all of this. _"I'll be coming back, Tallah, I promise. I'm sure I won't be going into any danger anyway." That was a lie. I was sure that Tallah wouldn't believe it. She was way too smart for that.

Tallah looked down at all the weapons I had strapped to me and she gave me a look that said that she clearly didn't believe any of that. "Then why are you bringing so many weapons with you?"

"Because...there's always the possibility of danger. Master Skywalker doesn't want us walking in, unable to defend ourselves."

Tallah finally got upset and yelled, "Ben, do not lie to me!" She calmed down after that and said in a quieter voice, "I know that you're walking into danger. That much I can tell. Just be honest with me."

I sighed and said, "All right. The truth is yes; I may be walking into danger. And there is the possibility that I may not come back—but I will. I swear that no matter what happens there, I _will_ come back to you. But I can't tell you where we're going or what we're doing. I'm sworn to secrecy."

I walked up to her and we embraced. After a few minutes, I leaned downed and kissed her good-bye. _Not a thing in this galaxy will be strong enough to keep me from coming back to you. _Finally, reluctantly, I let her go and ran off on my way to the docking bay. I could feel her eyes on me as I ran. I knew that she never took her eyes off me until I was out of sight.

---------------------------------------------

As I sprinted into the docking bay, I could see that I was the last person to arrive. _Perfect. The last one to arrive again. I'm just making a _great_ impression with the rest of the Jedi._

When I reached the group, Master Skywalker began his debriefing of the situation. "All right. The plan is that we will all go on three separate ships: a Jedi Master, a Knight, and a pilot. We will land down onto Dxun in three different coordinates of the planet. We will scope out for any unusual activity in the Force and meet at the rendezvous three days from when we land. We will share our findings at that time, if any. And of course, we will all have our com-links on at all times in case of any danger. The pilots will be waiting for us at the rendezvous to take us home. Are there any questions?"

We all said no, so Master Skywalker concluded with, "All right then. Tenel Ka, you'll be flying with Mara. Jacen, you'll be flying with Kyp. And Ben, you'll be flying with me."

I was more than a little surprised by that. Considering their connection, I naturally assumed that Jacen would be paired up with Master Skywalker and I would be with Master Durron. But I decided not to say anything at that time. _Whatever his reasons, I'm sure that Master Skywalker knows what he's doing._

Within the hour, we were off in hyperspace to Dxun. And off on my first real mission as a Jedi. True, still just a Padawan, but that didn't make any difference to me.

---------------------------------------------

It was a long flight from Yavin IV all the way to the Onderon system. About one week. On the last day of the trip there, I was sitting in the back of the ship by myself. The quiet, calm feeling I had over me was long gone. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop myself from shaking. And I felt as if I were going to throw up.

Just then Master Skywalker came in and said, "We have 30 minutes before landing."

Doing my best to hide my nervousness I smiled and nodded to him. However, anyone who knows anything about Jedi knows that it's futile to try and hide your emotions from a Jedi Master. Especially when you're only a Padawan.

Master Skywalker stepped closer and asked, "Ben, are you all right?"

Trying to think of a way to pass it off without actually lying, I replied, "My stomach just feels a little funny. I'll be all right by the time we land." I looked back at his face, praying that he would believe me.

Master Skywalker looked back and said after a moment, "You're doubting yourself about this mission, aren't you?"

_Damn! _I exhaled and said, "I feel out of place. No one else here is a Padawan. Three Jedi Masters: you, Master Jade-Skywalker, and Master Durron. Two Jedi Knights: Jacen and Tenel Ka. And me...just a Padawan."

"A Padawan who—just between the two of us for the time being—exceeds the talents of many Jedi Knights."

"But why am I here? There has to be other Jedi Knights who could take my place. Who know as much or more than I do. Or have more experience than me. Especially on as important a mission as this."

"Possibly. But if the prophecy is true and you are the Second Arm of the Force, then I want you here at the beginning. I want you to learn all that you can about them now. That is why you are here."

I nodded uneasily and told him what I had never said out loud before. Not even to Tallah, though I probably never had to tell her for her to know. "I'm afraid to fail."

Master Skywalker nodded and said, "Believe me, I understand the feeling. You still doubt yourself. That is something that will be corrected only with time. You haven't had the chance to see your true potential for yourself. But I see it in you. Once you learn to trust yourself; your judgment and your confidence, then you will no longer fear failure."

I nodded and breathed a little easier. I did feel better. "Thank you, Master Skywalker. I'm ready now."

"Good. Come on. Let's go to the bridge. We have to be ready for the mission before we land."

------------------------------------

As the ramp to our ship opened up onto Dxun, Master Skywalker and I walked down the ramp and stopped there for a moment, looking around. As the ship rose up into the air and took off, we looked up and watched it until it was out of sight. Master Skywalker looked at me and said, "Come on. Time to get started."

We spent all day following paths, looking for any signs that someone might have been there recently. Keeping our senses open, we also tried to feel for any signs of the Dark Side. It wasn't hard to feel it.

_How are we going to find the source of the Dark Side here? It's laying so thick all over the place. It's coming from all directions._

I was about ready to tell this to Master Skywalker when he stopped abruptly and threw an arm out across my chest to stop me. I started to ask, "Master, what is—"

He shushed me quiet and we waited there in silence. A rustling in a brush of vines began to get louder and soon, we were in front of a knee high animal with a long tail, sharp teeth and claws, and dark fur. It looked somewhat like a giant rat. It began to growl.

Neither Master Skywalker nor I moved for a while. Minimizing movement as much as I could, I whispered, "A Dxun tomb beast."

Master Skywalker nodded slowly and whispered back, "Yes..."

Before we could say anything. The tomb beast lunged forward at my chest. I caught its front arms and fell backward onto my back. It was at that moment that I heard the sound of a lightsaber igniting. As I wrestled with the tomb beast, trying to keep its teeth and claws at bay, a small shower of hot, black blood splashed onto my face and chest.

I threw the remains of the tomb beast onto the ground and jumped to my feet, still in shock. Using one of my sleeves, I wiped the black blood off my face, making sure not to get any into my mouth.

Master Skywalker extinguished his lightsaber stepped close to me, concerned. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so. I haven't had much of a chance to feel pain yet." I looked down and saw that my right sleeve was almost completely torn off. After I ripped it the rest of the way off, I saw that there were three long streaks of bleeding cuts starting from the bottom of my shoulder all the way down to my elbow. I started using the sleeve in my hand to wipe away the blood.

Master Skywalker slipped his backpack off of his shoulders and opened it up. He pulled out some antibacterial medication and bandage strips. After he cleaned and bandaged the wound, he said, "I think we'll rest here for a while. I'll contact the others to let them know that we're stopping for a little while. We'll catch up later."

I nodded and sat down on the ground. _Great. He's needed so much more up front with the others and instead, he has to stay back here just because an animal was too fast for me. How the hell am I going to be the 'saving grace' for the Jedi? I can't even save myself._

---------------------------------------------

Later on that night while trying to sleep, I woke up, sensing something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was something that made me feel sick to my stomach. I got up to my feet and opened myself up to the Force as I looked around at our environment. About fifteen feet away from the campsite, hidden by a web of thick vines, I found what I was sensing. And the sight of it put a huge ball of weight into my stomach. I wanted to throw up. Instead I called out, "Master?"

After Master Skywalker woke up and began walking towards me, he asked, "What is it, Ben?"

"Look at what I found." I pointed to the ground.

He looked and saw a large nest of eggs. Tomb beast eggs. Master Skywalker let out a sigh of sadness and said, "It's too bad."

He turned around and started walking away. He hadn't gotten far away before I asked, trying to control my anger, "How can you say that? _'It's too bad?'_ That's it? That tomb beast we encountered was a mother! She just saw us as a possible danger to her children! She was only trying to protect her family! Now she's dead! And her babies will be next!"

Master Skywalker turned around and replied, "I'm aware of that, Ben. Believe me, I wish that it didn't have to be so." He stepped closer to me and his voice got a little stern. "But that tomb beast attacked us. Not the other way around. There was no choice in the matter. If I had not killed it, you would be dead right now. And hope for victory in the future war of the Jedi and the Sith could have possibly gone with you."

I looked down at the ground and muttered, "I still don't like it."

"No one ever said that you had to, Ben. But sometimes lives have to end to serve life as a whole." Master Skywalker's face and voice softened again. "And I do appreciate the fact that you don't like it. I wish that all of the Jedi valued life as much as you do. One of your greatest strengths is your heart. The capacity for compassion that I see in you is the main reason I took you into the Order. But you will have to learn, especially with a war coming, that sometimes, killing _is_ serving life."

I understood what Master Skywalker was saying. Actually, it was something that I already knew. It was just so hard for me to comprehend the idea of killing someone or something. So hard.

---------------------------------------------

It wasn't until after three days that Master Skywalker and I managed to catch back up with where we should have been. And it was three of the most exhausting days that I care to remember.

Not long after Master Skywalker finished talking to Master Durron on the com-link, telling him that we were caught up to our appointed location, he stopped instantly in his tracks.

I started to ask, "What is it, Master Skywalker?" But I didn't get halfway through before I stopped and understood. A thick wave of darkness and cold came over me. I shuddered and asked, "Do you feel that?"

Master Skywalker nodded and said, "I think we've found what we were looking for. This is nothing short of the Dark Side of the Force. I'm going to get Mara and Kyp back on the com-link and give them our co-ordinates so that they can meet us here. We'll wait here until then. If everything goes right, we'll continue our inspection of Dxun by morning."

I nodded, putting on a relaxed face, but inside I could feel my nervous tension and anxiety building up in me again. I was praying that I would not be a disappointment to the whole Order and especially, Master Skywalker.

---------------------------------------------

That morning, the six of us concentrated through the Force and found the point; the exact center of where the wave of the Dark Side was coming from. We soon realized that it was coming from a large crater. After that, we separated into six locations, surrounding the crater. Crawling on the ground, we all made our way up to the edge.

As I peered my head over the edge, my heart sank and I felt all the rest of them do the same. I saw hundreds and hundreds of Dark Jedi doing a variety of exercises. Some were sparing with lightsabers. Others were in meditation. Or practicing hand to hand combat. A few of them were even practicing with shooting Force Lightning. _Oh, my god_..._they've done it. They've created another Dark Jedi army. And they have to outnumber us at least_..._four to one._

It was at that time that I noticed that there weren't just Dark Jedi down there. At least half of them were from the ancient race of the Sith. The red and black tattooing and horns gave them away. They looked just like Darth Maul.

I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and lost my balance. Before I could regain, my body began to slide down the angled wall of the crater. _Shit, shit, shit, shit! They're gong to find us out! We're dead!_

When I reached the bottom, I felt a large hand grab my shoulder and yank me to my feet. Before I could say anything, a large human man, obviously one of the Dark Jedi Masters yelled, "What are you doing, running around during training practice?" The Dark Jedi motioned down at my lightsaber hanging from my belt and pointed to where other students were practicing with training remote.

Not knowing quite what else to do, I quieting muttered, "Yes...Master." As I jogged towards the other students, I felt like puking at calling that man 'Master.'

I stood in the like of Dark Jedi students waiting for my turn with the practice remote. _What the hell am I going to do? Sooner or later, they're going to realize that nobody has ever seen me before. And I can't just run away, because then they will know right now that something is up._

Suddenly I heard a Dark Jedi bark an order and realized that they were talking to me. "You! Get up here!"

I walked up to the Dark Jedi and unclipped my lightsaber from my belt. As I was igniting it, I realized something important that could give me away. The Dark Jedi stared at my white-bladed lightsaber and asked, "Where did you get that?"

Stammering to think of something; anything, I said, "I...uh, I...made it."

The Dark Jedi looked at me for a second then nodded. He obviously had more things to think and worry about than the color of one more 'student's' lightsaber blade. He turned the training remote on. It was rapid-fire right off the bat.

I had practiced on rapid-fire before, but never instantly. It was always gradually. I took a few bolts in my left arm before I started to deflect them. A few seconds later, the Dark Jedi stopped the remote and yelled, "What do you think you are doing? You must always be prepared! If these were full strength bolts, you would be dead! Use your hatred! Your anger! Have you forgotten everything you have learned?!"

_I haven't forgotten anything. That's why I didn't use them. _But I knew that they would feel if I was refusing to use those emotions. As hard to see as the Dark Side may be, it was much easier to distinguish it from the Light Side. Having little choice in the matter, I replied, "Yes, Master."

With a shudder, I let myself go from my mind and let in emotions that I had denied since I had confronted my anger all those months ago on Dagobah, after hearing the prophecy made by Master Roshko Grimbete.

The remote began on rapid-fire again; this time, not letting any bolts hit me. This continued until an alarm began to flare. My heart began to thump harder, thinking that they had realized that I was a Jedi Padawan and not one of them. Or that the others had been discovered.

As everyone began to leave, I realized that it was an alarm to end for a while. What we were going to do next, I had no idea. I was led down a long hallway and taken to a door. I didn't know what to do next, but another student walking by me looked at me while continuing down the hallway and said, "Well, go ahead and go inside! Meditate when you have the chance!"

Deciding not to reply to them, I opened the door and walked inside. I was surprised at what I saw. "Jacen! Tenel Ka! What are you two doing here? Did you get caught?" A sudden thought occurred to me. "Have I been caught too?"

Tenel Ka raised her arm at me and said, "Calm yourself, Ben. After you fell, we were ordered to follow after you."

Jacen nodded and said, "The others would've come too, but we're the only ones who can pass for students. Once we get the opportunity, we'll escape. Then we can contact the pilots and meet us at the rendezvous and get out of here. We've certainly found what we came here looking for."

I lowered my head and said, "We'd be able to leave now with virtually no chance of danger, if I hadn't been so damned stupid and fallen."

Tenel Ka replied, "There is no point in blaming yourself, Ben. Jacen and I know a thing or two about escaping from a Dark Side academy."

Jacen looked at her and smiled. "Oh, right. I forgot all about that."

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, let's hope that it can be done for a second time."

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The three of us spent an entire, miserable week at the Dark Jedi Academy. We all had no choice but to use the power of the Dark Side, to keep from being found out. At the end of every day, we would get together into a mind meld to cleanse ourselves from the Dark Side. A "Force-bath," as we decided to call it.

After the cleansing that night, I sighed and leaned back on the floor. "I don't know how much more of this I can take. When are we going to get the hell out of here?"

Tenel Ka looked as tired as I did. "We cannot hope to escape until an appropriate opportunity presents itself."

"And just when the hell is that? Once the Dark Side has completely seduced us? Or when we all leave with the rest of the Dark Jedi to wipe out the Jedi Order?"

Jacen remained calm and said, "Ben, you need to calm yourself down. This isn't helping matters at all."

"And this is? Just hanging out here when we need to get off this planet to warn the Republic and the other Jedi? We have to get out of here _right now!_"

"And what do you suggest, Ben?" Tenel Ka asked, "What plan have you devised for us to leave here undetected?"

After thinking for a few minutes, I replied, "Well, every morning at the Jedi Academy I would go for a run. Maybe we can do the same here. We can all go out for a 'morning run,' but never come back. We can get back with the Jedi Masters and get out of here."

As Jacen thought about that, he took a deep breath and let it out. "It could work. But there's a lot that could go wrong. We may not be allowed to leave for one thing. And we may be followed. Or have to go with other Dark Jedi students. The plan has a lot of unknowns."

"I do not like to admit it, Jacen," Tenel Ka started, "but Ben does have a point. We cannot stay here forever. And it is a plan that could work."

Jacen looked at the both of us and after a resigned sigh and nod, he said, "All right. I'd like a stronger of a plan than this, but we can't wait around here much longer. We'll leave in the morning. I just hope that Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara, and Kyp are still okay. It can't be easy hiding from Dark Jedi in a wild jungle for an entire week."

---------------------------------------------

We got up early in the morning. It was still dark outside and we reached a large doorway, leading outside into the jungle. We were stopped by a large Sith who stepped in front of us. "Where are you going?"

"We're just going out for a run this morning," Jacen said, doing his best to sound like a Dark Jedi. "Is there something wrong with that?"

The large Sith grunted, "The day is plenty filled with training. Why do you need to add to it?"

I looked at him and said, "That kind of thinking may be good enough for the Jedi, but we need to be a cut above them. If we are to one day have our revenge."

The Sith looked as if he were thinking, then replied, "All right. Go ahead and get out of here." As we began to walk past him, he stopped us and added to me, "By the way, if you ever compare me to one of those Jedi, it will be your last day."

Biting down on my anger, I simply replied. "Forgive me, Master."

He nodded once and motioned for us to go.

As we jogged away, I thought, _there might come a time someday when we'll have to see if you really could._

After we climbed our way out of the crater, we started our search for the Jedi Masters. It didn't take long, since actually they came across us. They must have been watching for us. They looked a little tired and their hair was messed up. Master Skywalker and Durron had one-week beards.

"We're sorry to keep you all waiting for so long," Jacen started, "but we had to make sure that we could get out of there without being tracked or followed." Only a moment later, an alarm began to blare.

From our vantage point, we could see ten Dark Jedi run out of the Academy. The one in the lead was the one we encountered on our way out. They all began pulling out their lightsaber and ignited them. The area filled with the bright aura of scarlet red.

"We clearly did not do a good enough job clearing out tracks." Tenel Ka said, "We should get out of here now."

We were all thinking on the same plane and turned around, all taking off in a Force Sprint. Out in the lead, Master Skywalker pulled out his com-link and said, "This is Master Skywalker! Have all of the ships together on the ground 300 kilometers Northeast of the original rendezvous!"

Master Durron risked a turn of his head to look behind us. The Dark Jedi were within sight of us. "It's no good just running from them! We'll have to confront them eventually, once we make it to the ships! We have to stop to fight!"

"These aren't very good odds!" Master Jade-Skywalker said between breaths. "If they were regular men, 10 against 6 would be about right! But these are Dark Jedi! They have power equal to ours!"

Master Skywalker shook head and said, "There's not much choice! Ben, fight if you have to, but stay behind the rest of us!"

"But—"

"This is not subject to debate, Ben! You are to only fight if you engaged! That's an order!"

They all stopped and stood our ground, igniting their lightsabers. I kept going and stopped about twenty feet behind them. Even though I would most likely not need it, I pulled my lightsaber from my belt.

Within a matter of seconds, the Dark Jedi were among the others. Master Skywalker and Jacen managed to time their first strike in just a way so that they put the point of their lightsabers straight through the chests of two Dark Jedi. As they fell to the ground, I cringed at the blood and gore of the scene. After counting, I thought, _well, two down seven to go...wait a second, two down and seven still fighting? That's only nine. There were ten before, where's the other—_

I never finished my thought, but it was answered for me anyway as I received a kick straight into the middle of my back and I flew forward. My lightsaber rolled away from me. Fighting the pain and struggling to get a breath, I rolled over and saw the very same Sith who we met before.

"So, Jedi...you think that you can come and infiltrate us and leave without being noticed? Well, you all will not be making it home to warn the others. When we finally leave this place, all that you have will be destroyed...as you did to us."

I glared at him and said, "The Jedi didn't destroy you. You destroyed yourselves. You fought amongst yourselves for power and glory, while the Jedi united, making them stronger. That's why you lost the war."

The Dark Jedi only grinned and replied, "You Jedi are so naïve. When we return to your home, I will be sure to say hello to your friends." He raised his lightsaber up over his head, as if to stab down onto me.

I watched as he began to stab down. Watching the events of death beginning to unfold, everything went into slow motion. That is when I remembered something important. Too important to let this happen.

"_You see? This is what I was afraid of."_

"_I swear that no matter what happens there, I will come back to you. Not a thing in this galaxy will be strong enough to keep me from coming back to you."_

My jawbone flexed and I felt strength come back into me. _No! I will _not_ leave Tallah alone! _I rolled on the ground and out of the way, just as the lightsaber punctured into the ground. Leaping to my feet, I spun into a roundhouse kick as the Dark Jedi pulled his lightsaber out of the ground. My foot made contact with the hilt and the lightsaber when spinning away.

The Dark Jedi glared at me and said, "Impressive move...boy." He leapt into the air, bringing his right leg out to kick me in the face. I had no idea where I got the strength,

but I caught his leg with both of my arms and spun him around 360 degrees and let go. His body went flying into the base of a tree and he fell to the ground.

He slowly got back to his feet, furious. Screaming, he charged at me. I grabbed his arms as he reached me. Then, rolling onto my back, I placed my feet into his chest and kicked up and back, sending him flailing over me back to the other Jedi. When I got to me feet, I saw that the other Dark Jedi laid on the ground, dead.

He was suddenly surrounded, hopelessly outnumbered. His jaw set, he yelled, "The day will soon come when you will be destroyed forever!" With that he turned around and ran back for the Dark Jedi Academy.

Master Skywalker had just placed his lightsaber back onto his belt and said, "We don't have much time. We have to get out of here now and prepare the Jedi and the New Republic for this war." He sighed. "War...always a war."

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As we sailed through hyperspace, Master Skywalker began to explain to me what he wanted me to do. "Ben, it's important that we get all of the young Jedi to a safer place. I hate to do it, but I have to be stricter on what students we will evacuate. Every student with capable lightsaber training must stay. All other students will be leaving. The Dark Jedi outnumber us to a point where we need every Jedi that we can spare."

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Obviously, I will be needing you to fight. But before you even think about that, I want you to help in getting the other students to safety aboard the ships. Where they go will have to be decided later. Do you understand?"

I nodded firmly and replied, "You can count on me, Master Skywalker." As another thought, I added, "I would lay down my life for you."

Master Skywalker looked at me in quiet for several moments before saying, "I would hope that you never have to make that decision."

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Several days later, we finally came out of hyperspace in the Yavin system. I felt so relieved to be getting back to Yavin IV. To be getting back to Tallah. But I also knew that I wouldn't be resting easy until I got her on the ships out of there and to someplace much safer.

The ship lowered to the floor of the docking bay and I didn't even wait for the ramp to finish lowering. I leaped out and went into a dead sprint to where I knew that Tallah would be. She was always in the same place at this time of day. I ran outside to one of the back entrances to the Academy.

I saw Tallah sitting on the stone floor in meditation. She came out of meditation very quickly as she felt me approach her. She jumped to her feet and began to run to me too. "Ben! I knew you'd be coming back! We've already heard about—"

"There's no time for that!" I grabbed her arms and said, "You have to grab your things and get ready to evacuate the planet. All younger students have to leave."

She looked at me and said, "No."

"You don't understand! This is not a choice! I don't want to leave you either, but this is out of both of our hands! You have to stay safe! You aren't ready for this war, yet!"

"But I _am_ ready—"

"Maybe you feel ready, but you still don't understand—"

"You're the one who doesn't understand, Ben." She looked at me with a sad, yet solid expression. She motioned down, and when I looked, a terrible ache filled my heart.

I wanted to close my eyes and think, _if I just think hard enough, when I open my eyes it won't be there anymore. _But I knew that was pointless. Right there; hanging from her belt...a lightsaber.

I just stared at it and asked, "How long have you had it?"

"A couple of weeks now. Master Streen told me that Master Skywalker would've helped me, but he had to go on that mission. So, I will be fighting in the war. We'll both have to risk our lives and whatever is meant to happen will happen."

I heard a loud noise in the sky and looked up. _What's that noise? _But I already knew. "They're already here. It's time."

I looked at Tallah and took her hand in mine. I kissed her gently on the lips. We then both looked up at the ships gathering in the sky. I should have been scared. But I wasn't. Because I knew that Tallah was right. Whatever would happen would happen. And at least now, we would be there to face it together.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...The Second Arm of the Force II: Eye of the Storm


	6. Eye of the Storm

**-The Second Arm of the Force-**

**-Part II - Eye of the Storm-**

_The final war of the Jedi and Dark Jedi has begun; however, Ben had thought that his training would be further along before being thrust into it all. Now, if he wishes to take those steps from student to knight, he must finally learn to trust himself._

After staring at the ships for a few more moments, I looked back at Tallah and said, "Master Skywalker wants me gather up all of the younger students and get them to the docking bay to evacuate the system. I need your help."

Tallah nodded. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"Go up to the top levels and get the older students," I replied. "I'll go down to the lower levels to get the younger students. We'll meet in the docking bay."

"Right." With that, we both took off back into the Academy. Once we reached the stairs, we separated as she went up and I went down.

Once I was at the lowest level, I looked around someone. Anyone. But I was alone. _Oh no_..._please don't tell me I'm too late! _"Hello?" I called out. "Is there anyone here? Hello? Anyone!"

Shortly thereafter, I heard just the smallest hint of a breath. I looked around, but saw no one. _Wait a minute...there's a false wall down here somewhere, maybe they're hiding in there. _I felt around a wall looking for the right stone. _I know that one of these stones will move the fake wall._

After feeling around for a while, I finally found it and pushed it. A door opened and I ran through it. I saw a dim room with about a dozen very young students of all races. The oldest one, a Twi'lek who couldn't have been more than eight looked at me and said, "Master Tionne put us in here and said that someone would be coming for us. That we had to wait here until they came. Are you him?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, I am. Follow me and I'll get you to your ship to leave."

A small human boy that looked about four—the youngest of the lot was all huddled up, hugging his legs. He looked at me and unblinkingly asked, "We're all going to die, aren't we?"

A small gasp and rush of fear rippled through the group of children. If I wasn't in control of it, I likely would've cried at that. _Just a small child and already willing to accept death_...

Not really knowing what else to say I said, "I promise that I will not let that happen to you. Any of you. Just stay close to me and hold hands. Nothing bad is going to happen."

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The Jedi children and I ran through the hallways of the Jedi Academy. It was slow, because I wouldn't let the group run faster than the slowest of us. I had the four year old boy in one arm and he clung both of his arms around my neck. Every once in a while an explosion from outside would rattle the floors and walls of the Academy. _What the hell is happening out there?_

I heard footsteps running through the hallway in front of us and I quickly ignited my lightsaber and got all of the children behind me. A Dark Jedi turned the corner with a large blaster rifle and started firing at us. I blocked the shots with my lightsaber, careful to make sure that my blade and the bolts never touched the children.

Trying to get the fight away from them, I began to inch forward all the while, still deflecting the rapid-fire shots. When I was finally close enough, I swung the blade through the barrel of the rifle and it cut in half.

The Dark Jedi instantly dropped what remained of his weapon and swung his right fist at me. I leaned back, dodging the swing. Once he was off balance from hitting pure air, I hit him square in the jaw with the pommel of my lightsaber. As the went back a couple of steps, I threw my left foot into his gut. Once he was hunched over, I gave him a roundhouse kick with my other foot and he crashed into a wall unconscious.

I extinguished my lightsaber and turned around to the Jedi children. "Come on. The docking bay is just up here at the end of the hallway."

Shortly after the entrance to the docking bay was in sight, the silent alarms in my mind flared. All of the rumblings of the Academy began to take their toll. I hollered for the children to stop just as stones and supporter beams came down from the ceiling. I turned around and poured all of my concentration into an invisible shield of the Force around the children.

Since I had used all of my concentration on them, I had no idea that stones were about to fall on top of me. My legs were buried by large stones that I couldn't budge. And it was more weight than I had ever moved with the Force. Luckily, I could tell that I was only pinched down by the weight and nothing was broken.

I looked up at the kids standing there, trying to pick up the stones off of me. "Don't waste your time on this! The docking bay is right there. Everybody run there and get to your ship."

The youngest child made a frown and said, "No! Jedi leave no one behind!"

All of the children closed their eyes and concentrated. Most of them had their eyes clenched very tight. A few had their lips puckered up in furious concentration. Trying so hard to move the large pile of stones. _It touches me that they're so motivated to try and save me, but we're talking about hundreds of pounds of stone here—_

My thought was interrupted as I felt the stones slowly start to lift off of me. _My god! They're doing it! _I added myself to their mind meld and the stones came up off of me. I rolled out away from the rubble and it fell back to the ground after I was clear away.

I got to my feet and smiled at all of them. "Thank you. Come on, your ship is waiting for you."

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As the Jedi children and I finally made our way into the docking bay, I saw a large ship with the doors open and a man waiting by it. I ran up to him and all of the children kept up behind me. When I reached the man, I asked, "Is this the ship for the Jedi children?"

Looking relieved, the man replied, "Yes, it is. The rest of the young ones are inside waiting." The children began filing up the ramp into the ship. "Come on, we have to go." After the last of the children were up the ramp, the man looked back to me and said, "Thank you for getting them here safely."

We shook hands and I replied, "I'm only doing my duty."

Across the other side of the docking bay, a similar ship had older students filing into it. At the back of the line, I saw Tallah with Guild and Ryndell. I quickly ran and reached them, just as they reached the ramp. The four of us stood there, not knowing quite what to say.

Biting her lower lip, Tallah said, "So this is it..."

"This isn't the end," Guild replied, trying to stay strong. "I swear to both of you that I'm going to train even harder now to make sure I'm on the battlefield to fight right alongside both you."

Getting teary-eyed, Ryndell nodded and said, "I'm going to do the same thing. You two better make sure that you survive."

We all hugged and I said, "You two just concentrate on your training. And there's no one I'd rather have watching my back on the battlefield than you two."

Our good-byes over, Guild and Ryndell turned around and walked up the ramp and out of sight. When alone, Tallah turned to me and said, "So...are you ready to get outside?"

I gazed into Tallah's eyes for what felt like a white eon, but could have only logically been a couple of seconds, before I made a decision. "I'm sorry Tallah, but there's something that I have to do and I hope someday, you'll understand why."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know I'm disobeying Master Skywalker's orders, but I'll make it up to him. I'll fight enough for two. I'm sorry for this."

"Sorry for what?"

"This." I raised a hand and with the Force, as gently as I could, lifted Tallah and pushed her over the ramp and into the ship. Before she could get up and reach the doorway, I was up the ramp and closed the door.

I heard her banging on the door and shouting, as the ship slowly rose into the air and through the opening out into the atmosphere of Yavin IV. With the ship gone, I breathed a sigh of relief and unclipped my lightsaber from my belt. I then sprinted out of the docking bay, out to face the Dark Jedi.

---------------------------------------------

I ran outside and was surprised at what I saw: no Dark Jedi, no battle, no duels, nothing. What I did see were dozens and dozens of more Dxun tomb beasts laying dead on the ground. Some Jedi were nursing wounds to arms or legs.

Several Jedi, though thankfully not many, were on the ground and had sustained more severe wounds. They each had a few Jedi wrapping their wounds in bandages. Most of them were helped to their feet and able to walk with minimal assistance.

Looking around a little puzzled, I saw Master Durron nearby and jogged up to him. He was cleaning blood off of his shoulder when I asked, "What's going on? Where's the battle?"

Master Durron looked up from his bloody shoulder to me and replied, "There is none. Several ships came down into the atmosphere and began to drop the tomb beasts down. Then another ship dropped bombs onto the Academy. After that, the ships disappeared. We don't know why yet."

"But I just encountered a Dark Jedi in the hallway."

Master Durron asked, "Where is he now?"

"He's unconscious in the hallway near the docking bay. It wasn't too difficult. He didn't even have a lightsaber, just a blaster rifle."

"Did you encounter any others?"

I shook my head and replied, "No, he was the only one. He looked kind of young too, so I think he was also just a student. But why would they bring down just Dark Jedi students?"

"Because the students are more expendable. If they have any casualties, they'd rather lose students than their best warriors. That's how a dark-sider would think."

I nodded and took a deep breath, then let it out. "Well, the last ship of students just left Yavin IV, so they're safe, at least."

It looked as if something just sparked in Master Durron's head and he asked, "What?"

Still not understanding what was wrong, I answered, "Master Skywalker asked me to make sure all of the Jedi students got to the ships so they could evacuate—" That's when I began to understand.

Master Durron's face seemed to pale. "We were never the Dark Jedi's target. The Dxun tomb beasts...the bombs on the Academy...just diversions to keep us busy."

"...They're after the students! Where's Master Skywalker?!"

After that, we took off to find Master Skywalker to tell him what we had just discovered. _If they catch Tallah, after I forced her onto that ship, I'll never forgive myself! How can I be so damned stupid?_

---------------------------------------------

"Shuttle Kenobi! Shuttle Forcesabre! This is the Academy. Are you there?" Master Jade-Skywalker called through the intercom. The Jedi had been rounded up and stood waiting in the control room of the docking bay, anxious to hear a response to the two ships. "Kenobi! Forcesabre! Do you copy?"

A few seconds later, the static through the intercom stopped and we heard a voice say, _"Shuttle Kenobi, responding."_

There was a moment of relief through all of our minds for a moment. Master Jade-Skywalker asked, "What is your situation now?"

"_I'm here at the rendezvous point, still waiting for Shuttle Forcesabre to arrive, but they aren't here yet. I'm not sure what the hold up is. They took off before we did."_

I felt a freezing chill in my stomach that worked its way through my veins. Then my stomach began to roil until I swear I could almost taste blood. _Oh, no_..._they have the students_..._my friends_..._Tallah_...

"_Is there something else here that I don't know? Is something wrong?"_

Master Jade-Skywalker began to fill him in on what was happening, without going into too many details. If the Dark Jedi were listening in on our system, it was best if they didn't know how much we knew.

---------------------------------------------

In an enclosed room, the Dark Jedi I encountered was being kept guarded. The Jedi keeping watch allowed me through and the moment the door was open, I lunged at him. I threw a fist into his gut, then shoved him against the wall and pinned him there. "Where are they taking them?! What did they do with the other students?! Answer me!"

The Dark Jedi grinned and said, "They will do with them exactly what you did to us the first time."

I pulled my lightsaber from my belt and pointed the emitter against his stomach and said, "Tell me or I'll cook your insides and serve them to you!"

I never even had a chance to think about if I would've really done it, because right after I said it, a voice said from behind me, "Ben!" I turned my head around, still keeping my hands on the Dark Jedi student and saw Master Skywalker standing there, I could tell, doing his best to not look upset. "That is not a way to get answers."

"But he's—"

"I don't want to hear any excuses. We all want the students back, but there is a right way and a wrong way to deal with those issues. The rest of us will deal with this matter, Ben. You can go."

I let go of the Dark Jedi and reluctantly nodded. "Of course, Master. I am sorry."

"Perhaps you should apologize to him," Master Skywalker replied, motioning to the Dark Jedi student.

Shocked, I looked back at Master Skywalker and for the first time, was furious at him. "I would sooner apologize to a Dxun tomb beast." Thinking back on our mission to Dxun and the one we encountered, I added, "At least when they attack, it is out of protection." I didn't wait for Master Skywalker to reply.

I walked past him and started down the hall, when Jacen stopped me. He was one of the few Jedi who had not sustained any injuries at all during the small attack. "Nobody blames you for being upset. The possibility of losing someone you care about can be can bring a lot of anger. There's nothing wrong with a Jedi being angry, but if not careful, it can be a dangerous step into the Dark Side. Nobody doubts your abilities, but it would be best to let cooler heads deal with the interrogation process. Why don't you go to your quarters for a while and meditate? You'll find out everything, once we all know. There's nothing to do now, besides wait anyway."

I breathed a sigh and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you're probably right."

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I sat in my quarters and tried to concentrate my breaths, so that I could slip into the arms of the Force and find strength in meditation. _Calm_..._remain calm_..._find peace_..._peace in courage_..._wisdom_..._faith_..._friendship_..._love_..._love of Tallah_..._Tallah_..._They have her! The Dark Jedi have Tallah! If they bring any harm to her, I'm gonna—_

Out of frustration, I pounded my fist onto the stone floor and screamed into the air. I lowered my head and covered it with my hands. As I sat there, it slowly began to dawn on me that there was someone in my doorway. I looked up and saw Jacen standing there.

He had obviously been standing there long enough to have seen me scream. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

I let out a loud sigh and replied, "I can't find my center." I lifted my hands in front of me, as if to strangle someone's neck. "Every time I try, I see Tallah in the hands of the Dark Jedi and I just want to—"

"Your anger is getting dangerously close to the Dark Side, Ben. You need to remain calm."

"What do you think I've been trying to do? I can't! They have Tallah!"

"They also have your other friends; as well as dozens of other students. Don't you care about them?"

"Of course I care! I just..." I didn't know what else to say.

"Perhaps it would've been better if you had refrained from beginning a relationship with Tallah. You're clearly not ready to distinguish between doing what's in the best interest of others and what's in the best interest of yourself."

"What the hell do you know about it? You've never been in the same situation as I am!"

Jacen shook his head at me and said, "I came up here to let you know that we've been able to get a little information out of the Dark Jedi student and we're planning our next move. But it would probably be a good idea for you to stay out of the plans until you're ready to start acting like an adult again."

Jacen turned around and left my room. I got up from the floor and chased him into the hallway. I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Wait! What do we know now? Where are they taking them?"

Jacen looked at me for a few moments and answered, "They're being taken to Ord Mantell. Where exactly, is still unknown. But we're planning an all out search for them. The plans and teams are still being discussed."

I nodded and sighed, looking down at the floor. I lifted my head back up at Jacen's. "Uh, Jacen...I'm sorry."

Jacen nodded. "Come on. If you're going or not is up to Master Skywalker, but all Jedi here need to be in on the meeting."

---------------------------------------------

All of the Jedi sat or stood in the crowded debriefing room. The same room where the strategy for the attack on the Deathstar was planned. If I were to guess how many of us there were, I'd say about eighty-five. I sat on a Bench near a couple of other high level students that were all talking to each other. Actually, most of the Jedi in the room were talking amongst themselves.

I sat quietly, looking at the floor; unable to take my thoughts off of Tallah. What might be happening to her. If she was in pain. If she was even alive..._No! She has to still be alive! I'm sure that if she were dead, I would know it! I think_...

Master Skywalker came into the room, along with several other Jedi Masters. It quieted down not much longer after that. I took myself away from my thoughts to listen to what he had to say.

He held his face in a way that showed hardened strength. Confidence. The face of a true leader. "For those of you who do not know yet," Master Skywalker began, "we have gotten from the captured Dark Jedi student that the students are being taken to a secret location on Ord Mantell. We have gotten no hints that the Dark Jedi is lying, so we are preparing to get into teams and retrieve our students."

A male Twi'lek named Plook Rhendor that I only vaguely knew of stood up said, "Master Skywalker, Ord Mantell is a large and populated planet. How are we to find them? It would take—"

Master Durron interrupted him. "Do you have pressing matters elsewhere? These are our students and our future. What else would you have us do?"

Plook bowed his head for a moment, before lifting it again. "Forgive me, but I must say what I feel. Though it is an uneasy decision, perhaps we must consider the notion of forgetting about the students for now. The Dark Jedi outnumber our order by too many for us to focus on search parties. Perhaps we should fight them and if we discover and rescue the students in the process, all the better."

Master Skywalker folded his arms and asked, "And if we don't find our students, what then do you suggest?"

Plook paused for a few seconds before saying, "I know it is hard, but if we do not find them, they may have to be cut as loses. Terrible loses, of course, but acceptable compared to the lose of our full Jedi Knights."

I lose my temper again and jumped to my feet. "That's exactly what the Dark Jedi did! They risked the lives of their students at the attack on the Academy, because they considered themselves above their students!"

Master Skywalker tried to jump in. "Ben—"

"Are we no better than them?"

"Ben—"

"Would you be willing to cut _yourself_ as a lose if _you_ were on that ship?"

"_Ben!_"

I finally stopped and looked at Master Skywalker. He continued, "We will not leave our students behind. That is no worry. You can sit down."

I sat down again, still fuming. _Leave them behind_..._How could a Jedi even think of wanting to leave students behind? Children, even!_

Master Skywalker continued with our plans and began to form groups of people to do searches on Ord Mantell for the other students.

---------------------------------------------

When the meeting was let out and all of the Jedi began to file out of the room, I began my fight through the crowd to try and reach Master Skywalker. _Why is he doing this? Haven't I already proved myself more capable than some of the other Jedi he had assigned?_

I reached Master Skywalker outside the room in the docking bay. "What's wrong, Master? Why didn't you assign me to a team? Practically every other Jedi is going along to Ord Mantell. After everything I've already done, what more do I have to prove to you?"

Master Skywalker studied my face for a few seconds, then asked, "Ben, tell me. If it came down to a choice of rescuing Tallah or the rest of the captured students, which would you choose?"

I thought for a moment and then fluttered for an answer, "Uh...the, uh, students. Of course."

Master Skywalker shook his head and replied, "You're lying."

I shook my head in defense. "I'm not, Master! I know that a dozen other students is more important that one. It's the only logical thing to do."

"You may know that that's the correct thing to do, but you hesitated way too long before you decided what the right thing to do was." Master Skywalker stopped another Jedi walking by and asked, "If it came down to saving one student's life or all of the others, which would you save?"

Without hesitation, the Jedi replied, "The lives of all of the other students, of course." The Jedi was puzzled at having been asked a question with such an obvious answer. "Why?"

Master Skywalker shook his head. "Nothing. That's all I needed from you, Phrent. Thank you."

Phrent nodded and walked away.

Master Skywalker looked back at me. "That's the kind of Jedi I need with me. We all want the students back, but we must do what's in the greater good for the entire order. Right now, your compassion for Tallah is clouding your judgment. Your case is an example of why the old order didn't allow marriage. That's not a perfect rule, either. But it had its merits. You have a lot of power, Ben. And there will be plenty of battles in this war. You will have to sit them out until I know you can re-focus."

I was on the verge of breaking down, but I held it back and replied, "Master...you don't understand. Tallah _is_ my focus. She _is_ my strength. If it weren't for our love, I would have died on Dxun. I was about to, when I remembered Tallah and all I could think of was surviving so I could come home to her. She's the source of my power. I have to be there to rescue the students. No other Jedi will have the drive I will to rescue them, I know it! Please let me go. Even if I'm just there as someone else's assistant, doing the tedious crap work, I don't care! I just have to be there...please."

Master Skywalker looked at me for a long time. Finally, he slowly nodded. "All right. I'll put you in a ship under Master Durron and Kyle Katarn's watch. They'll make sure that everything is in the interest of saving all of the students. I'll make sure of that."

I nodded, relieved. "Whatever you want, Master. If that's what I have to do, to come along on the search, that's what I'll do." _I'm on a ship with Master Durron and Kyle Katarn_..._that can't be a coincidence. All three of us have had brushes with the Dark Side. If he's trying to be subtle, then he failed pretty badly._

Master Skywalker nodded. "I'm sure you will. I know it's hard to be a Jedi in training and have attachments to people. To have to make choices where it's one or the other and wanting to follow your heart. But when you have a power that burns as brightly as it does inside of you, you must remember: if you fall to the Dark Side in order to save someone you love, what kind of universe are you creating for that person?"

I looked at Master Skywalker in awe. I had never looked at it that way before. Not that it had occurred to me, on a conscious level at least, to go to the Dark Side to save Tallah, but it was a good thing to remember, if I ever got desperate enough to ponder it.

---------------------------------------------

Sitting in the lounge area of the large ship I was traveling in, I looked at the floor in quiet contemplation. I raised my head when I heard footsteps entering the lounge. It was Plook Rhendor; the same Twi'lek Jedi from the meeting. After a moment's glance at him, I went back to looking at the floor. _I'm on the same ship as him? Perfect. I'll bet Master Skywalker did this intentionally._

Plook began to walk slowly in my direction. _Oh, no_..._keep walking_..._keep walking_...He stopped and stood in front of me. _Damn!_

"I would like to clear up something."

I lifted my head up look at his face. "What's that?"

"That I, too, care about the welfare of the students."

I nodded and looked down. "Yeah, I know you do."

"I do not wish them to be in harm's way anymore than anyone else."

"So why did you suggest that we do nothing?"

"Because it was a thought that had occurred to me and I knew that it was on the minds of other Jedi as well. Nobody was willing to say it, for fear of being thought of as cruel. Is that not what you felt about me?"

"I suppose. But still, even if no one wanted to say it, so what? That would say to me that people knew that it was wrong to think that."

"Because it had also occurred to me that if everyone felt this way, but no one said anything, then we might all do this without wanting to. And how would a half-hearted rescue attempt benefit the students?"

I thought about that for a while before answering. "I suppose that it wouldn't be very effective. We may not have been able to find them."

"And aside from that, not being there to prevent other attacks of the Dark Jedi, because we are too busy trying to do something that our hearts aren't in."

I slowly nodded. "I see what you mean." _God, I'm saying this a lot today_... "I'm sorry for how I acted. I just never looked at it from that angle."

We shook hands and Plook departed from the lounge. _Okay, now I see why Master Skywalker put me in this ship. So I could have a chance to talk things over with him and not have that coldness between us. And so that I could learn that there's always another side to everything._ It was at that moment that I realized that I really did still have a long way to go before I became a Jedi Knight.

---------------------------------------------

In a docking bay on Ord Mantell, I sat alone in the bridge to the ship. All of the Jedi had left on in teams to make their runs through their assigned search areas. I sat slumped down in a chair, studying a monitor; making sure that any enemies we wanted to remain unseen to didn't spot our location. _When I said 'tedious crap work,' I didn't know that 'mind numbing' fell under that category._

On the ride through hyperspace here, Master Durron took me through a lesson in how to use some of the various equipment in the bridge: the intercom, monitors, holomaps, and if it came down to it, the piloting controls.

I was about to nod off from watching the monitoring screen when the com-link nearby came to life. _"Shuttle _Nadine_, this Kyle Katarn. Do you copy?"_

I got up and when over to the intercom. I turned it on and replied, "Kyle, this is Shuttle _Nadine_ speaking."

"We believe we've found a lead. I need you to go to the interactive map of Ord Mantell and put in these coordinates I'm going to give you. Tell me what you see. The coordinates are 4EB-1138-THX."

_Hmm_..._even when Lucas doesn't write the story, the references are still there._ I typed in the coordinates and the map of Ord Mantell began to zoom in on a single area. I was expecting to see some buildings or something. But there wasn't anything. I spoke into the intercom, "I don't see anything Kyle. Just a bunch of piles of rubble. Most likely old buildings that have fallen and haven't been cleaned up or built over."

"Well, looks can be deceiving. We're going to check it out. Make sure you stay near the intercom, in case we need anything."

"You got it, Kyle."

Confused, Kyle asked, "What do I have?"

Ignoring the question, I answered, "Nevermind. I'll make sure to stay close to the com-link."

After I shut off the com-link, I slouched back in seat and sighed. _How am I supposed to prove to Master Skywalker that I can separate my actions from my head and my heart, if I can't get back out there and fight? I can't help but wonder if this is partly because of this father? How loving Padme was part of Anakin's downfall and this is his way of trying to be overly protective of me? Trying to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to me?_

_To hell with this, I'm going outside for a while._ I punched up some buttons and connected a com-link to the intercom so that if Kyle or anyone else tried to contact the shuttle, it would go directly to my com-link. I lowered the door to the shuttle and stepped out onto the duracrete floor of the outside docking bay.

It was early evening and only a bit of the sun remained over the horizon. The cool wind over the warm night made things very comfortable and relaxing outside. It was quiet, except for the sounds of various speeders and ships flying through the sky. Really, Ord Mantell was very similar to Coruscant in that way. It just wasn't as heavily populated.

I took a deep breath and let it out. I could feel some of the stress leave my body. I looked up and watched as more and more ships flew through the sky. They were all so different. And things I had never seen in the movies. Until one that did look vaguely familiar. _I think I've seen one like that before. I thought as I continued to watch it. _My heart practically jumped into my throat when I remembered._ That ship is just like the one Darth Maul flew! It's a Sith spacecraft!_

I looked around, not sure quite what to do. Until my head stopped, looking at a swoop bike parked near our ship. I looked around, to see if anyone was close by. But I was also trying to decide if I should. In a moment I made my decision. I made sure my lightsaber and com-link were firmly attached to my belt and I jumped onto the bike.

I pushed it into what I thought was reverse, but it was first gear and flew a couple of inches into the wall it was parked in front of. My forehead slammed into the front shield and left a small lump. I rubbed it as I looked down again and put the bike correctly into reverse this time. It went back far enough for a turn away from the building and I put it into first gear. I stomped on the accelerator and before I could blink I was in the sky above Ord Mantell, with the ship getting smaller behind me.

I scanned the sky ahead of me for the Sith spacecraft for several minutes, before it came back into my sight. I let off on the accelerator a little bit to stay far enough behind that they wouldn't spot me.

A beeping started going off on my belt and I looked down to see my com-link flashing. I unclipped it and turned it on. Careful to hold onto it without losing control of the swoop bike. "This is Ben."

"_Ben, this Kyle. I need you to do a mechanics scan of the coordinates I gave you. To see if there are any bases or anything hidden."_

_Uh-oh. I think I'm in trouble. _"Well, Kyle...that's going to be a bit of a problem."

"_Why? What's wrong_..._and what's with all the wind sounds coming through the intercom? What's happening with the ship?"_

"Well...I'm not in the ship?"

Kyle's voice started to get slow and angry. _"Where are you?"_

"I'm on a swoop bike, following a Sith spacecraft."

I heard some arguing on the other side of com-link and suddenly, Master Durron's voice came through. _"What do you mean you're on a swoop bike? Why did you leave the ship when you were given explicit orders from Master Skywalker and myself to stay there?"_

"Because I had to follow the Sith spacecraft!"

There was silence for a moment as I heard Master Durron sigh exasperatedly, then say, _"Could you start from the beginning, please?"_

"I wanted to go outside for a few minutes, so I hooked up my com-link to the intercom so that I wouldn't miss a call. When I got outside, I saw a Sith spacecraft flying through the air. There wasn't much time, because we could've lost it. I jumped on a swoop bike near the ship, which leads us here. Whoa! Wait a sec—"

I put both hands back on the controls again and pulled up in just enough time to fly over the top of another ship to avoid a collision with it, while it was flying through the wrong lane against traffic. When I was out of the way, I turned around and shouted at the pilot of the other ship, "Drunk asshole!"

Back through the com-link, I heard Master Durron call out, _"Ben!"_

"I'm back, Master Durron. Sorry, there was a—"

"_Forget about that. First, how do you know it's a Sith spacecraft?"_

"Because I saw it in 'The Phantom Men'—uh, no! That's not what I meant!"

"_The Phantom what? What are you talking about?"_

"I mean, I studied it in my Old Republic history class. One of the last Dark Lords of the Sith before Vader, Darth Maul, flew this very same kind of ship."

"_Describe it for me."_

"Well, it's shaped a lot like a TIE fighter, except that it's larger and the bridge goes out to more of a point, like an x-wing, instead of in a sphere."

"_Okay. Look, just keep following him. The swoop bike you're on has a tracker. We'll know right where you're going. He may take you right to their hidden base."_

"So...I did good?"

"_We'll see about that. I don't know about Master Skywalker, but as far as I'm concerned, you're still in a lot of trouble."_

I nodded and replied, "I understand. I'm out." I clicked off my com-link and put it back on my belt. Keeping my eyes on the ship, I followed it through the night skies of Ord Mantell.

---------------------------------------------

It was hard to tell how long exactly I was following the ship. It felt like maybe a little over an hour, but it just as likely have only been about half an hour. Off in the distance I saw an area that looked familiar. _I think these are the coordinates from the interactive map._

The gap between the Sith spacecraft and me started to slowly get smaller. _Oh, it's slowing down! Maybe those coordinates were right, after all!_ I let my foot off of the accelerator as the spacecraft began to lower down. It would've been too risky to lower my swoop bike at the same time, so I continued to go with the traffic of other ships for a little ways beyond the lowering ship, keeping an eye on where it was going.

When I was beyond eyeshot of the ship, I lowered down and hid the swoop bike about half a mile from the ship. I pulled a pair of electrobinoculars out of a compartment of the swoop bike and focused them on the ship. The compartment slowly opened and a few Dark Jedi came out.

I pulled out my com-link and turned it on. "Master Durron? Katarn? Are you there? This is Ben."

Kyle's voice came out the other end after a few seconds of static. _"Ben? What's the situation? Have they landed?"_

"Yeah. I'm looking at them through my electrobinoculars right now. I'd say that I'm about ¾ of a kilometer away from them." _Jesus, it took me a while to get used to the metric system_..._it's so stupid!_

"_All right. Our tracker says that you're not too far from us. A little over a kilometer and a half away. We'll be there in about ten minutes. Definitely not anymore than twenty. Keep an eye on them."_

"Okay." I turned off my com-link and put it away, back on my belt. I continued to watch the Dark Jedi outside of the ship. It looked as if they were talking to each other. _Come on, you assholes. Show me where your base is._

---------------------------------------------

Continuing my watch of the Dark Jedi and the ship, I felt a hand on my shoulder. My head spun around quickly and I saw Master Durron, Kyle, Plook, and a couple others that I really didn't know all that well.

Master Durron got down on one knee at my level and asked, "Have they done anything yet to reveal their base?

I shook my head and replied, "No. They just stand there. It looks as if they're waiting for something."

Kyle nodded slowly. "Could be. If they are waiting, it's probably for more Dark Jedi."

Plook added, "Or they're waiting for a 'shipment' of our students."

I looked back through my electrobinoculars and saw another ship lowering down. "Master Durron," I said, handing the binoculars to him, "here, you should take a look at this."

Master Durron took them from my hand and look through them at the new ship. "Looks like we found what we're looking for. I'll get Master Skywalker on the com-link to let him know we've found them."

He handed the binoculars back to me as he got out his com-link. I looked back through them and saw that the much larger ship had lowered and line of the students began to file out. Once they were all out, I saw Tallah, Guild, and Ryndell standing next to each other as they were searched for weapons. "Yeah, it's the students all right. They've just been filed out of the ship."

One of the Dark Jedi stopped in front of Tallah and took her lightsaber away. I saw him stroke her cheek, just before he went down the line. I started to hear some crackling noises and it took me a few seconds to realize I was squeezing the binoculars and had stopped breathing.

I lowered the binoculars and shut my eyes. Under controlled breathing, I used the Force to retain my calm. _Stay calm_..._it's okay_..._he didn't really do anything to her. Of harm, anyway._

Master Durron got off the com-link. "All right. We're moving in, as soon as Master Skywalker and his team gets here. Ben, you're to stay behind with one of the speeders. We'll send a group of the students with you. Once they get there, you fly them back to the ship, got it?"

"But I thought—"

"The decision is made. Your first duty is to insure that the students get back to the ship safely. That's a lot more responsibility than you were given when we came here. You're not going in this fight."

I exhaled loudly and reluctantly nodded and replied, "Yes, Master."

Master Durron said, "Good. Wait here for them. The speeder is about a quarter of a kilometer South of here."

---------------------------------------------

I sat on the ground looking through my electrobinoculars, trying to see something of a fight going on. It was probably about half an hour later when a terrible pain hit my chest. Then again. And again. I fell flat to the ground. It felt as if pieces of my heart were ripping their way out of my chest. Finally the pains stopped. I hadn't had time to get up off the ground and figure out what happened before there was an explosion. I jumped to my feet and began to search furiously through my binoculars for something.

Soon, the Sith spacecraft that I had followed here was rising through into the sky and taking off. In the distance, I saw two figures running towards me. Once they were close enough for me to focus on, I saw that it was Guild and Ryndell. We hugged once they got to me.

I looked into their faces and saw a hollow coldness. _Something terrible has happened._ "What is it? What's wrong?" It felt as if my heart stopped beating. "Where's Tallah?"

Ryndell's face was red and streaked with tears. "They just—they just started...killing students!" She buried her face into Guild's shoulder and began sobbing again.

Guild looked at me, a little more in control of his emotions. "They split us up into groups. Just absolutely random. One of the groups...they just started hacking at with their lightsabers...and the rest of us just had to stand there and watch. They gave no thought at all to age or species or gender. There was nothing we could do about it. There were only five of us left when they got done hacking."

On the verge of tears, I grabbed Guild's shirt and yelled, "Where's Tallah?"

Guild sighed and said, "I don't know why, but I guess because of her lightsaber, they decided on something different with her. She was taken in that ship for some lightsaber duel." He shook his head, "But she doesn't stand a chance, this guy is huge. As they said, one of their best."

"Okay. You two take the speeder South of here and get on the com-link. The rest of the Jedi on Ord Mantell will give you directions back to the ships. I'm going after Tallah."

I began to get back on my swoop bike when Guild grabbed my arm. "No! We're coming with you!"

"No, you're not! This is personal and you're not ready for this."

Ryndell wiped her face and said, "Tallah is our friend too and just because we're students, doesn't mean that we have any less to lose from this war. Why can't we fight for our friends?"

I lowered my head in thought. "All right. But we won't all fit on the bike. Come on, we have to get to the speeder as fast as we can. When I get there, I'm leaving, whether you two are there or not. Ryndell, if you make it, you're driving."

---------------------------------------------

I had never seen Guild or especially Ryndell run as fast as they did on our way to the speeder. I was moving my legs as hard as I could, using the Force to aid in the run, but they kept right at my heals.

Once we reached the speeder, I jumped into the passenger side seat and Guild jumped in the back. Ryndell jumped onto the hood of the speeder and into the driver's seat. She roared the speeder to life and took off through the air.

As Ryndell dodged and weaved through the other ships flying around, I opened myself up to the Force to try and find Tallah. I heard Tallah yell out through the Force. _Ben! Help, please!_

I opened my eyes and pointed at the top of an old abandoned building not too far away. "Land here! On the roof! She's close!"

Ryndell didn't answer, but brought the ship down on the roof within a matter of minutes. I jumped out and looked around. I looked over the edge and heard the faint sounds of lightsabers. _Tallah_..._I'm coming!_

I waved Guild and Ryndell over to me and said, "Come on!" I grabbed onto a pole near the ledge and swung down to the ground. I looked up to Guild and Ryndell doing the same.

Guild shouted down at me, "Go, we'll catch up to you!"

I nodded and sprinted off toward the sounds of lightsabers. I peaked around a corner and saw a Dark Jedi lunging at Tallah. She had her blue-bladed lightsaber ignited and held it defensively, but looked scared. The Dark Jedi would charge at her and she'd jump out of the way. By the looks of the wounds on her right arm, she was beginning to lose.

I reached out through the Force and put an invisible grip on the emitter of the Dark Jedi's lightsaber. I began to squeeze and squeeze. The Dark Jedi looked down at his lightsaber, surprised to watch it slowly crush like a soda can.

Finally, it exploded and sparks flew into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. I ran forward and jumped into air, putting a boot square into his face. He flew back, then ran off into another alley. It was just then that Guild and Ryndell came around the corner. "Come on, he's getting away!"

I ran after him, followed by everyone else. When we got through the alley, we were surprised to see a large open area filled with people. "Great...how are we going to find him now?"

We worked our way through the people, trying to find him. Once we reached an area where fewer people were, we stopped to think. It was then that it finally dawned on me...I had Tallah back! I put my arms around her and we clung together.

She whispered in my ear, "I want to talk to you about something. Away from Guild and Ryndell."

I nodded and we walked away to a secluded area. "What is it Tallah?"

"This is...very hard for me to say. But—" She stopped in mid-sentence; both of our senses started to tingle.

Careful, I asked, "Do you feel that?"

She nodded and I turned around quickly igniting my lightsaber in time to block laser bolts. "Tallah, get down!" The Dark Jedi had gotten into a smaller, enclosed ship. He was standing up from an open roof in the canopy.

I continued to block bolts, until I managed to spin into one and swing like a baseball bat; bring the bolt back at the blaster rifle. The gun flew out of his hands, but suddenly I felt a ripple through the Force. A metal object went through the air and grazed my ear, into the hands of the Dark Jedi. _He just stole Tallah's lightsaber!_

He ducked back into the ship, closing the canopy. As I extinguished my lightsaber and put it back on my belt, through the corner of my eye, I saw Guild at a dead sprint for the ship. Just as it rose into the air, he jumped up and grabbed onto the side and slowly started climbing up as it rose further into the air.

Ryndell caught up with Tallah and I and shouted, "Guild, come back!" She looked at me and said, "Stop him!" I must have revealed it through my eyes, because when she looked at me, she said, "Oh, no! Don't tell me you're gonna—"

I started running for the ship and yelled behind me, "Get to the ship and follow us!" The ship was so high off the ground by now that I had to use a Force jump just to grab onto the bottom of the ship with one hand. I slowly started climbing up and looked down to see Tallah and Ryndell still standing there. I shouted as loud as I could, "Get back to the ship!"

They finally turned around sprinted back for the ship. I looked back up and continued to climb up to the top of the ship.

Guild looked down and saw me. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Oh, you know...just...hanging around. You?"

"Pretty much the same!"

All of a sudden, the ship started speeding up. Guild and I both almost lost our grips, but got them back. Guild made it to the top of the ship and helped pull me up, too. The entire time, I wasn't able to have a grip any less than as tightly as I could. _Somehow, Obi-Wan made this all look a lot easier in 'Attack of the Clones.'_

As I was firming my grip on top of the ship, I saw Ryndell and Tallah catching up with us in the speeder. By the time Guild and I were working on trying to get through the door on the roof, Ryndell and Tallah had caught up with us and slowly pulled in on the left side of us.

The ship suddenly jerked and moved to the left. The Dark Jedi was ramming the speeder. Everything shook and made balance harder to keep. With another quick move of the ship there was another collision. Guild had lost his grip and started to slide backward off of the ship.

I dove and slid on my stomach towards Guild, hooked my foot under a rung of the back ladder and grabbed hold of Guild's right hand. His hand in mine, we formed an ironclad grip and I pulled him back as I could, until he was close enough to grab the ladder with his other hand.

Finally back on top of the ship, I shouted out to Ryndell, "Keep some distance between us! Follow us, but keep your distance!"

Ryndell slowed down the speeder so that it was behind and to the left of the ship. Guild asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"You jumped up here before I did! Didn't you have a plan beyond that?"

"I guess not!"

"Well, that may be part of why you don't have a lightsaber yet!"

That seemed to bother Guild, but he put it aside. "Just help me get this roof open, huh?"

We each pried at the door with a hand, but it wouldn't budge. _Wait a minute_..._what am I doing? I have a lightsaber!_

"Guild, back up a bit, I'll cut a hole open with my lightsaber."

He nodded and slid back a few inches. I pulled my lightsaber from my belt and ignited it into the roof, creating a whole with a diameter about a foot long. Once the whole was complete, laser bolts began to shoot out from it. I began to slip, but grabbed onto an edge of the hole and clung to it. _How many weapons does this asshole have?_

I threw my arm into the hole that had my lightsaber and slashed at the controls. Things began to spark, smoke, and explode. I pulled my arm out and put my lightsaber back on my belt. I motioned for Ryndell and Tallah to come back up for us.

"You jump first, Guild! I'll help you." A little nervous, he nodded. "Okay...jump!" He leaped into the air, I used to the Force to insure that he landed in the speeder. I could tell that the ship was starting to descend, so I got up ready to jump.

Then I noticed through the canopy, Tallah's lightsaber was sitting there. I reached in and grabbed the lightsaber. I tried to pull my arm out, but the Dark Jedi had a hard grip on it. As hard as I tried, I couldn't break free of it.

I heard a voice from the ship yell, "If I'm crashing, you're crashing with me!" Then he began to laugh.

Getting more panicky, I pulled and pulled again. Then I got an idea. I ignited the lightsaber in my hand. I didn't know if I got him with it or if it was just the shock of the blade coming to life, but my arm was free.

I quickly pulled my arm out, extinguished the blade, and jumped from the ship. But the Dark Jedi was still in shock and just as I jumped, there was a sudden turn that took me off balance and off course.

I landed on the back of the speeder flat on my back and rolled off, down through the hundreds of feet in the air. My body kept just narrowly missing other ships flying around. The air whipping through my hair and clothes and my eyes, half blinded me and it was difficult to see. Most of the fall, I wasn't even sure if my eyes were open or closed.

Suddenly, through the corner of my eye a familiar speeder came into sight below me and in the distance. The edge of the ship came underneath me just as I was level with it and I grabbed onto the ledge it as the speeder began to shoot back up. Guild and Tallah's heads popped over the edge as they grabbed my arms and pulled me up into the ship.

My head hit the floor of the speeder as I tried to pull my feet inside. I heard Ryndell ask me, "Are you all right, Ben?"

Ignoring the question, I yelled, "Follow him! Just keep following him!"

As I sat upright, Guild sat next to me and said, "I don't think we have to worry about following him. The damage you did to that ship made him crash. It shouldn't be long before the rest of the Jedi make it to the crash site."

"Okay, let's get there."

---------------------------------------------

When we landed near the crash site, Master Skywalker and Master Durron were already there, inspecting things. Once we got out of our ship, I stood face to face with Tallah and raised the lightsaber in my hand close to her. "I got your lightsaber back from that Dark Jedi."

Tallah's eyes filled with tears and she clung on to me with both arms. "Do you really think that that lightsaber means as much to me as you do? You didn't have to risk your life to bring that back."

Putting both my arms around her, I quietly replied, "If people only did what they had to, not much would get done."

We stood there in silence for a while longer before Tallah looked back up at me. "I haven't got a chance to talk to you about a decision I've made."

I looked over at the crash site for a few seconds, then looked back at Tallah. "Bring it up again soon. We can talk later, I promise." I gave her a quick kiss on the lips and walked over to Master Skywalker.

He looked at me grimly and asked, "What did we decide on before we left the Academy?"

I lowered my head and started with, "I know I disobeyed you, Master—"

"Yes, you knowingly and deliberately disobeyed a direct and clear order that I gave you."

"But there wasn't any—"

"You endangered your well-being, as well as everyone else you went into contact with when you left the ship."

"But if I hadn't left the ship for a few minutes, no one would've spotted that ship and no one would've found where the students were taken."

"Then you decided to disobey orders again, given to you by Kyp. You were to take the students directly to the ship. You chose not to do that. You took them with you to rescue Tallah. You did the very thing that was my reason to not want to bring you; you risked the life of two students to save Tallah."

I lowered my head and simply replied, "Yes I did, Master."

Behind us, there was a loud crash as the canopy to the ship was finally opened. Plook called to us, "There's no one in here! He must've escaped before the crash!"

Master Durron asked, "Do you think we should look for him, Master?"

Master Skywalker shook his head. "No. We came here to get our students and that's what we did...the ones that we could saved."

_Master Skywalker knows about the dead students. They'll pay. They will pay for what they did to those children._

---------------------------------------------

Guild agreed to go back with me in the speeder to get the swoop bike. I'd drive the swoop bike back and he'd follow behind in the speeder. He lowered the speeder down near the bike and I jumped out. When I got the swoop bike out of its hiding spot, I noticed that the engine was gone. "Oh, damn it! Guild, I think this bike is a lost cause. Let's just get out of here."

I turned back to the speeder, but saw that Guild sat in the driver's seat unconscious. I ran to him and checked for vital signs. He was still alive, but there was a wound on the back of his head that seeped blood. _He must've been knocked unconscious. But who—_

That's all I could think before I was knocked to the ground from behind. On the ground, I looked up and saw that it was the very same Dark Jedi who we'd been chasing earlier. "You..."

He smiled as he looked down at me. "I will enjoy this immensely." A red lightsaber blade appeared from his dark cloak.

I groaned. "Another weapon? What, do these things come off an assembly line for you?"

The Dark Jedi grinned and nodded once. "In a way. We do not attach ourselves to a single weapon the way you Jedi do."

I got to my feet and ignited my white-bladed lightsaber. "You cannot kill me. I have too much reason to live for you to be able to kill me."

The Dark Jedi lunged at me from high, trying to take my head off. I blocked the attack and shoved his blade away, while going in a low arc to take out his legs. We went back and forth like, neither one of us becoming the attacker or the defender. After, I don't know how long, he finally made a mistake and left his body open, so I kicked him in the body, which forced him to drop his lightsaber. I stabbed at the fallen lightsaber's hilt and it flickered out.

I kicked the Dark Jedi again in the stomach, then flattened him on the ground with a kick to the face. I brought my lightsaber up high to stab him through and finally kill him. But when I was about to bring it down...I froze.

_What_..._what's going on?_ I tried again to stab down, but my arms refused to work. _Oh, no_..._I can't kill him. I've never done anything like that before_..._I can't kill him._

That began to dawn on the Dark Jedi, as well. Because he smiled and got back up to his feet. All the while I kept trying to swing my lightsaber at him. Casually, he raised a hand at my chest and threw my through the air with the Force. I fell flat on my back and had the wind knocked out of me.

The Dark Jedi walked to the speeder and threw Guild out of it. He stepped inside and brought the engines to life. "So long, boy. Call me for a re-match once you become a man." He laughed as he flew off. All the while, I could still hear his mocking laughter.

I went to Guild and picked him up as he began to wake. Mumbling, he asked what happened. "Nothing," I answered. Which was true from a certain point of view. "Nothing at all."

I got out my com-link to call for help and a ride back to the ship.

---------------------------------------------

Traveling through hyperspace back to the Academy, I sat in my small quarters, talking with Tallah. "I had him. He was right there. I had beaten him. All I had to do was bring my lightsaber down and that would've been it. But I didn't."

Tallah sat beside me and took my hand. "It's your compassion. You couldn't do it, because you don't really hate him."

I shrugged as I continued to stare at the floor. "Did Master Skywalker hate everyone on the Deathstar that he blew up? Did he hate all of Jabba's gangsters when freeing Han? Did he hate all of those Yuuzhan Vong?"

"No. I don't think that he did."

I nodded. "I don't think he did, either. I was selfish."

Tallah snapped at me. "You were not! Just because you didn't kill him?"

"I was," I insisted. "I see it now. I didn't freeze because of any compassion. Or doubt. I knew that he was a Dark Sider who would never turn back to the light. And I knew that the only thing I could do—what my responsibility was, was to kill him. But I wouldn't. Because I didn't want that burden of ending a life on my shoulders. That's part of what being a Jedi is. Shouldering the responsibilities that other people aren't able to. I failed that time. I wasn't wise enough or strong enough to see it."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek and fall onto my lap. Tallah kissed me on the cheek and I looked in her eyes. "But not anymore. I will not fail again. I can swear to that. I will never...fail in that way again."

Tallah squeezed my hand a little tighter and brought her mouth close to my ear. She whispered, "I want to talk to you now. About the decision that I've made."

---------------------------------------------

Finally back at the Academy, Tallah had to brief Master Skywalker and the rest of the Jedi Council on her encounters in captivity. I sat in her quarters alone. Thinking about what she had told me. I was so nervous that I felt sick to my stomach. But at the same time, I knew that she was right. The doors opened and she stood there. She walked in and closed the door behind her.

We smiled nervously at each other as she came over and sat next to me on the bed. Fumbling for something to say, I asked in all seriousness, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

We smiled again and I went in and slowly kissed her lips. The kiss kept going and going, until she began to lean back and her head rested on her pillow. I leaned over her and smiled down at her as my hand caressed her cheek and neck. Then went slowly down the length of her body. I looked into her eyes and whispered, "I love you."

She smiled again and whispered back, "I love you, too."

I laid down next to her and we began to kiss again. Using the Force, I shut off the lights to her quarters. There were still many battles to be fought. Much blood to spill. But for that one night, all of that faded away. It was the night where two Forces...became one.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is... SAOTF 5.5 United We Stand


	7. United We Stand short

**-The Second Arm of the Force-**

**-Part II.V – United We Stand-**

_It is the following morning and before the Jedi Order begins their final war against the Dark Jedi, they take one day of remembrance. For the students who were slain in cold blood._

I opened my eyes as sunlight drifted into Tallah's quarters. I took a deep breath and sighed. Then I looked down at Tallah, who had an arm over my stomach and her head rested on my right shoulder. She was still sound asleep. As I saw her sleeping face, I realized that I had never seen such a beautiful face in my whole life.

Looking up at the ceiling, I smiled and reveled in what I finally found to be pure happiness. But it was short lived as memories of other things came flooding back. The look of horror on Guild and Ryndell's faces. I didn't have the heart to go and see it, but the image painted in my mind as I heard descriptions of what happened to those children. I whispered to myself, "We'll win this war for you."

Tallah opened her eyes and looked up at me smiling and I smiled back, putting aside my latest thoughts. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and hugged me. We laid there for a few minutes more, just holding each other.

Finally, we got up and got dressed. Tallah had just fastened her belt over her tunic when Ryndell opened the door and walked in. I was just finishing buttoning my shirt and Ryndell stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

The three of us didn't really know what to say, but Ryndell, trying to pretend like it was nothing said, "I was just wanting to let you know that Master Skywalker is planning a memorial this afternoon for the lost students. Their families are already here." Without waiting for a response, she turned around and left.

When the door was closed, Tallah said, "Oh, no...I really didn't want her to know about this yet."

I walked up to her and put my arms around her waist. I looked into her eyes and said, "I'm not ashamed. Are you?"

"No," she said after a moment and shook her head. "I'm not ashamed."

We both smiled, kissed once more, and left her room.

---------------------------------------------

It wasn't until an hour or so that Tallah and I caught up with Ryndell. But by then, Guild was also there. Awkwardly, we explained the situation to them. A G-rated version, of course!

We simply explained to them that we loved each other. After the congratulations they gave us, they better explained to us what was happening with this memorial for the Jedi children.

---------------------------------------------

Outside the entrance to the Academy, a podium had been set up and Master Skywalker stood at the front. He was in full Jedi wardrobe and looked troubled, deeply cut and saddened, but strong and unwavering. Behind him on the podium were 3D holos of all of the Jedi students whose lives were taken only a few days ago by the Dark Jedi. It hurt to look at their smiling, innocent faces; knowing the tragedy and horror of their final moments of life.

A number of rows of benches were set up in an auditorium-like fashion. The first few rows were for the victims' families. There were many crying children, mothers with their faces buried in fathers' shoulders, the fathers doing their best to try and be strong for the family.

Behind them were the rest of the Jedi Order that was able to be there. But I'm sure that there was not a Jedi in the galaxy that would have allowed himself to miss this memorial. And behind us were reporters with holo-vids and cameras. Some trying to ask questions, others just listening to Master Skywalker. But for everyone, the mood was the same: quiet shock. It was no secret that many in the galaxy still did not like the Jedi, but even they shared sorrow for the tragedy.

Master Skywalker stood up front and delivered his speech. "Three days ago, two things happened that were never expected to happen. The Dark Jedi have returned to our galaxy with another army...and the lives of twenty-five young Jedi children were brought to a brutal ending. While we spend today to honor their memory, we must not forget that a war still must be fought.

"For the last few days, I have been receiving condolences for many people. Even from those who do view the Jedi in a positive light. I appreciate all who have shown concern and support for us. Perhaps the time has finally come for the Republic to see that this galaxy isn't split into the New Republic and the Jedi. We are all one and this galaxy belongs to all of us.

"If it was the goal of their actions to change us. To cut us in a way that will never fully heal, then...I suppose they succeeded. We won't ever be the same again. This will be another scar that will define the Order and become a part of who we are.

"If their goal was to destroy us. To cause us into a state of non-action or fear. Then they failed. What the Dark Jedi have done is defined our driving action. They have given us something to fight for.

"We now stand on the brink of war. This is not a war of Jedi vs. Dark Jedi. This is a war about keeping peace and freedom from being destroyed. This war belongs to all because this galaxy belongs to all. Divided we fall, united we stand.

"Our Jedi Order will fight until the end. We must finally bring an end to the Dark Jedi and their pure evil. To the whole galaxy, this is the oath that we give to you: we will not give up, we will not falter, and we will not fail."

As I listened to Master Skywalker's speech, I held hands firmly with Tallah. _He's right. The only way that we can win this war is by everyone uniting. I only hope that everyone will see that. But I still can't get my first fight put by me. Will I always be this way? Will I never be able to kill a Dark Jedi? They say that war puts a man through many changes. What kind of a man will it turn me into?_

TO BE CONCLUDED.

Coming up next is...The Second Arm of the Force III: Force Apocalypse


	8. Force Apocalypse

Well, it's been a fun ride. I started writing this story about three years ago when I just got started into writing and I've now got my first real story idea that I've got going on. So it's likely to be a while before I come back with anymore fan fiction. Time for me to move on, I guess.

And as the other chapters, this one is coming out much later than I expected. And much longer than I expected. Thank you to everyone who read this story and to all of you who took the time to let me know how much you enjoyed it. You were a big part of the motivation that kept me on with wanting to finish it. Thank you!

BenMax

-The Second Arm of the Force

-Part III – Force Apocalypse

_Three months have gone by. Through minor attacks here and there, the Jedi Order has managed to force the Dark Jedi into a semi-retreat. However, this temporary victory is by no means permanent. It was paid for with a good deal of Jedi. Now, the Jedi Order is on its way to Coruscant to seek New Republic military assistance from the Senate._

I sat in a chair in the medical room on the ship to Coruscant, while a medical droid was cutting a bandage off of my arm. Several weeks before that, a Dark Jedi had blasted some Force Lightning in my direction and some of the bolts hit and scorched my left forearm. That forced me out of battle for a while and it had healed enough now to take the bandages off.

Once it was removed, the medical droid asked, "How does your arm feel now, sir?"

I held my left forearm in my right hand and flexed and moved it. It felt better to finally be able to feel my arm again. My wrist popped the first few times it was bent, from lack of movement the past few weeks. I nodded and replied, "It feels better. There's still a little bit of pain, but I can deal with it easily enough." I gave sideways glance to Master Jade-Skywalker, who sat nearby and added, "Though it'd have healed better and more quickly with bacta."

She simply replied, "Our bacta is in short supply and we don't know what is coming. At another time in this war, it might be needed more crucially than for burn treatments. We need to conserve it for those that really need it."

I nodded. "I know. It's just hard to have to sit back and let others go into battle, when we have the very thing that can heal me enough to go back out and fight."

"There will be enough battles in this for everyone to be sick of fighting long before it's over."

As the medical droid did some of his final tests on my arm, I noticed my reflection in a mirror across the room. I would've been practically unrecognizable to anyone I left behind when I came to this universe. Thanks to my many months of training, any trace of fat on my body had turned into muscle.

When I looked into myself, I no longer saw a shy, timid boy. I saw a man; confident in what he was capable of. Confident, but not so arrogant as to think himself better or above others. His Jedi training had started him on that path, but it was mere weeks of battle that did what months at the Academy could never do. _War really does have what it takes to put someone through many changes._

The medical droid did the last of his tests on my arm and said, "Sir, you are free to go."

"Thanks." I got up and looked back at Master Jade-Skywalker. "I'm going to see my friends real quick before we land for the meeting with the Senate."

Master Jade-Skywalker nodded. "Good. You should do that. And remember, you'll be at the Senate meeting, but you—"

"I'm not to jump up and start shouting at the Senators."

She lifted her eyebrows and continued, "Even if…"

I sighed. "Even if they say something really stupid that upsets me. Yes I know. Master Skywalker sat down with me and told me all of this already."

Master Jade-Skywalker stood up and said, "Good."

She was about to leave the room when I called out to her. "You know, this really isn't fair. It's been well over three months since the last time I lost my temper or disobeyed orders or anything like that. All this time I've been a 'good little Jedi.' How much longer before you'll all trust me again?"

"Keep your temper cool and your mouth shut during this meeting and I think we can talk about that."

Reluctantly I nodded and said, "Yes, Master." She left the room and I followed behind her through the door and walked the opposite way down the corridor.

Since the beginning of the war, it was rare when the order didn't travel together. This wasn't one of those times. I stepped into the large training arena where most of the students had been started on combat training of some form or another. Master Skywalker said that he didn't like some of the students starting so young, but with the war, he felt he had no other choice. They needed to at least learn defense should the need ever arise. And the Dark Jedi had already shown they had no reluctance in murdering children.

One area of the room was filled with students who had recently gotten their lightsabers and they were practicing with training remotes. Tallah was one of them and had her eyes covered with the blast shield of a pilot's helmet. I watched as she slowly walked in a circle not sure of where the remote would shoot next. A blast got by her and stung her foot. I winced to myself as she took a knee from the surprise, remembering the welts I had taken all over my body from learning.

In another area, Guild was practicing lightsaber techniques, but with a long steel dowel. He was among students who had shown themselves worthy of lightsaber training, but first needed a few more steps in learning to trust the Force. It was better that way, since they didn't have to worry about terrible accidents in training with the dowels. Tenel Ka losing her arm several years ago played a part in eventually taking this path in lightsaber training.

Finally, the last group in the training arena were the students who had shown skill in the Force, but were simply too young to get lightsabers or start on lightsaber combat. So they were learning more hand-to-hand combat techniques and acrobatics and enhancing speed and jumps through the Force. Ryndell was among these students. I watched with a smile as she took a running jump against a wall, kicking up with her foot and going about another ten feet into the air, before landing safely to the ground.

Jacen was nearby and helping the first group with the training remotes. When he saw me, he came over. "Hi Ben. Finally got the cast off?"

I raised my arm, made a fist and released. "Yeah. And it's about time. I was going crazy having to stand on the sidelines with a war going on." I couldn't help think about the lives we paid with to force the retreat. Trying to take my mind off of it, I asked motioning throughout the room, "So how are they all doing?"

Jacen's face grew sober and serious. "Good. Too good." He looked at them all and shook his head. "This is more than we should ask of them. They're just kids."

Nodding, I replied, "Going by age, so are we. War has its way of forcing you to grow up. How old were you when the Yuuzhan Vong came? Sixteen?"

Expressionlessly, Jacen nodded. "Yes. And already had my first kill under my belt."

Aside, I saw that Tallah had finished her training session. I turned to Jacen and put out my hand. "Well…may they never have to ignite a lightsaber."

Jacen took my hand and shook. "May they never have to make a fist."

Tallah and I walked side by side through the hallways and corridors of the ship. Most of the time, things were pretty quiet. Awkwardly so. Things hadn't been like this between us since my first days at the Academy.

Trying to think of something, anything to say, I asked, "How do you think your practice sessions are going?"

Tallah stopped and shrugged as she looked at me. "They're going fine, I suppose. I can tell that I'm not going to be the kind of Jedi who is going to make people stop in their tracks because of my lightsaber skills. I'm no warrior Jedi. I think I'm meant more for healing. I think most of the fighting is going to have to be from Jedi like you."

I raised my eyebrows and asked, "You think I _am_ a warrior?"

The slight redness in her face clearly told me that was not what her intended meaning was. "Well, not exactly. But you are supposed to be destined to end this war, aren't you?"

I nodded and leaned against the opposing wall in the hallway. "Right. I'm supposed to end the war. I just wish I knew how I'm supposed to do it. We don't have enough Jedi to win this war on our own. If the Senate doesn't join the war along with us, I can't see how we could have any hope left."

"I'm sure they'll vote in favor of us. They just have to! Why wouldn't they?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. All that I know is that politicians can be very tricky when it comes to war. Some of them will follow their hearts on the matter. Others will try to figure out what public opinion is on the war issue and go with that. And others will try to sway public opinion to think the way that they want them to." I shook my head and looked at her. "Politics really have no place on the battlefield."

Tallah came close and put her arms around my waist. She then rested her head on my shoulder. Quietly she replied, "Neither do we." As we stood there in our embrace, Tallah looked up at me and asked, "Have you patched things up with Master Skywalker yet?"

We let go and I thought about that for a moment. About how upset Master Skywalker was with me three months ago when I blatantly disobeyed his orders. Twice. When I left the ship in pursuit of a Sith spacecraft. Then when I took Guild and Ryndell with me on the chase for Tallah, instead of going straight to the ship. I could still hear him in my head. _"You did the very thing that was my reason to not want to bring you; you risked the life of two students to save Tallah."_

I let out a deep breath and answered, "We're not exactly back to where things once were, but I think that we've come to an understanding about it all. It's just a matter of earning back the trust again."

The ship's intercom came to life and we Master Cilghal announce through it, _"We are entering Coruscant air space. All members of the Jedi-Senate team please meet in the docking bay for the escort to the Senate."_

I shrugged at Tallah after a moment and said, "Well, I guess I have to go now. We'll talk again soon. I promise."

The Senate team consisted of Master Skywalker and Master Jade-Skywalker, obviously, and Master Durron, Jacen, and about seven other Jedi that I had seen before, but didn't really know.

I was hunched over in my chair, just barely staying awake as I listened to the Senate go on and on for over an hour about menial little things when there was a much more important issue at hand: a war!

While rolling my eyes, I started thinking,_ well now that I think of it, I guess there are things more important than the lives of billions of innocent people. Legalizing the possession of death sticks, trying to fund grants to underprivileged Twi'lek exotic dancers, the possible environmental hazards of mining on unnamed planets. Yes, these things are soooo much more important! _

I felt my body go limp about to fall asleep a couple times, but stopped myself both times just as it happened. Jacen sat next to me, clearly also bored, but doing a better job of hiding it. In fact, I don't think that a single Jedi at our table was paying complete attention anymore. I don't think even Master Skywalker was paying attention. Of course, anyone blind to the Force would swear that he was listening to every word. _That man could be dead and some of these Senators would swear he was still alive!_

My ears perked up and I sat up straighter when I finally heard Chief of State Cal Omas, leader of the New Republic and Senate utter the word, 'Jedi.' We all began to pay attention as he continued. "The next on our charter today is whether to place Republic soldiers into the command of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Jedi Order to help in their war against the Dark Jedi."

"If I may Chief of State," Master Jade-Skywalker said as she stood, "this is more than just our war against Dark Jedi. This war belongs to all of us."

Chief of State Cal Omas nodded at the correction; however, a Senator on the far side of the room got up and said, "And yet the only ones who they attack are the Jedi. There has not been a single casualty that has not been on your side or theirs."

Master Skywalker stood up at his wife's side and answered, "To this date, we have been their sole target, yes, but that is only because we are what keep them from taking over the galaxy. If they succeed in wiping us out, believe me, you will all be next. We must fight this war together."

The same Senator who spoke before came back with, "So the real issue is not just sending troops to fight for you, but in declaring full-out war on the Dark Jedi."

Master Skywalker thought about that and slowly nodded. "Yes, I suppose that is what I'm saying. As Jedi, we always hope for peace, but we also cannot deny war when it is so obviously necessary."

Another Senator gave a clap as he stood. "I agree with Master Skywalker. War is a terrible thing, but what else can we do in these times? The Senators of Corellia concur with the Jedi Order completely."

A wookiee Senator of Kashyyyk stood and raised an arm shouting something in wookiee that I didn't understand at all, but knew that it was support for our cause.

A raucous argument among the Senators began. Too much for me to keep accurate track of. All I knew was that I was hearing more negatives than positives.

A few minutes later, Jacen leaned in to me and whispered, "If the vote happens now, we won't get Republic support. It's about 60 to 40 against us."

I had no idea how Jacen was able to keep all of that straight in his head and I didn't bother to ask. I was just willing to accept that he was right and knew what he was talking about.

I really wanted to get up and say something. I wondered if I should. _As long as I don't lose my temper, I won't be going against Master Skywalker's orders._ I got up to my feet and had opened my mouth to speak, but that was all the chance I had before I had to act.

I unhooked my lightsaber and jumped from our platform about ten feet to the platform below us. Before the stunned Senators could ask what I was doing, they received their answer. A volley of blaster shots fired at the Senators and I deflected them harmlessly away from everyone.

Above me, I heard the shouts of the rest of the Jedi amongst themselves to find where the shots came from mingled with the _snap-hiss_ of their own lightsabers. Senators began to panic and created a stampede of running and shoving to get out of the Senatorial Hall.

The Senators on the platform I had jumped to were still on the ground cowering. I looked down at them and said, "It's safe to get up now, go!"

They began to crawl away and run to freedom. One of them stopped to turn and say, "You saved our lives!"

I nodded in gratitude, but was still trying to get them to safety. "That's my job. Yours is to get out of here while you can."

When they were clear and out of sight, Master Skywalker leaned over the ledge and looked down at me. "Ben, are you all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just fine. So are the Senators."

"Did you see the person who was shooting?"

"No. I just saw a dark silhouette. But I could tell that they were shooting from way up high. The top floor or maybe the roof by now…and I think it was a Dark Jedi."

Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, we all think so too."

Taking the time to give him a small grin, I asked, "You think this will make them vote in our favor?"

Returning a quick frown at me for the inappropriate joke, he answered, "Time to worry about that later. We have to deal with this attacker right now."

I nodded and did a little Force-jump to the platform above and climbed up. All twelve members of the Jedi-Senate team together again, we ran for the upper levels of the Senate.

We were about to run into the lifts to take us to the roof, but Master Jade-Skywalker stopped us and said that any Dark Jedi could have rigged them with a bomb or some other trap. Master Skywalker nodded and told her that she made a good point. Since we might not have the time to stand here and inspect them, but we also might not have the time to run up the staircases, we split into two groups. Half of the team would stay behind and inspect the elevators and the other half would run for the staircase and pursue on foot. If the inspection showed nothing was wrong, then they'd get there first and we'd catch up. If something were rigged up, then they would catch up with us on foot.

Master Skywalker took half of us with him to the staircase, me being one of them. It took us about ten minutes to go around and around the staircases until we finally made it to the highest level. As we ran into the lobby, a quick scan showed no sign of Master Jade-Skywalker and the rest of the team that stayed behind.

Master Skywalker said, "It looks like there was something wrong with the lifts, after all. They should be with us in about ten minutes, or so. Depending on how long it took them to find the traps. Fan out a little and look for anything suspicious. Keep your lightsabers ready, but don't ignite them yet. I don't want any bystanders harmed. Lets do everything possible to take this Dark Jedi alive."

We all did as Master Skywalker said and unclipped our lightsabers, ready to ignite. Opening myself up to the Force with a calming breath I looked around as I walked down a wide corridor with Jacen ahead of me and Master Durron behind me. We came to a fork in the corridor and as the three of us stood there deciding on where to turn, a sensation in the Force ignited in my brain.

I spun my head to the left fork and saw a tall man who looked to be about in his late 30's. With a large blaster rifle slung over a shoulder…and a lightsaber at his hip. I ignited my lightsaber and charged after him. He turned and continued to run down the hallway.

Behind me, I vaguely heard Jacen and Master Durron call out to me, but didn't hear what they said. They were already out of sight before they could get out a word or two. The Dark Jedi was back in my sights again as I saw him run down one corridor, then another. Finally he went through a doorway. _Yes,_ I thought with a victorious grin, _I have you now!_

I ran through the doorway and just as I stepped in, the door shut down behind me. I stopped and turned around to face the door. There was no panel to open it._ Great! I'm stuck in here._

Then I noticed I was on a balcony high outside the Senate. I could almost reach up and touch the clouds. But I also noticed something else. I was alone. I knew that this was the doorway I saw the Dark Jedi run into. It began to dawn on me. It occurred to me that I saw him, but I didn't really feel him. What Jacen and Master Durron must have been trying to say as I began the chase. They were trying to stop me. I had been tricked.

_I knew I saw the Dark Jedi run in here. But he wasn't real. A Force-projection. A mirage in my head for me to chase. A basic and simple trick taught to Jedi students at a young age. And I fell for it._ _I did exactly what he wanted me to do. _I went to the edge of the balcony and started looking for a way to get out of there when I heard the hissing of the door opening.

Turning around to face the door, I saw the Dark Jedi from the image in my head. He was wearing a victorious grin, not unlike the one I had only moments before realizing I had been trapped. He stepped in and pushed a button inside that began to close the door. He quickly brought him arm out of the way. No way back inside for either of us.

"With three pathetic Jedi, I knew that at least one of you would fall for such a simple trick. You didn't even hesitate to chase. You must be the inexperienced one of the group." He lowered his sniper rifle and with a low thrum, brought it to life. "Allow me to begin your next lesson." And without hesitation, he began to shoot rapid-fire blue bolts at me.

Luckily, I got my blade up in time. It was all too fast for me, but with such a large, bulky gun and at this close of range, it was impossible to be accurate. Many of the bolts went by me without having to be deflected. That made things easier, but not a lot.

As the bolts bounced off my blade and harmlessly away, my mind raced for an idea. Something, anything I could do. I had no idea if Master Durron and Jacen were far behind or if they were even able to get to me. Since it was an unknown variable, I knew that I would have to do this on my own.

He was too large and too powerful of a Dark Jedi for me to deal with him the way I did the Dark Jedi student at the Academy three months ago. And the bolts came too quickly for me to accurately aim a bolt at him or the rifle. There was only one way I could think to get him to stop.

Through gritted teeth, doing my best to sound bored and unimpressed, I said, "You must not have much power if you choose to use your rifle on me instead of your lightsaber."

The Dark Jedi simply laughed. "You will not trick me into giving up my advantage, Jedi."

_Damn!_ I continued to think. Playing along with it, I shrugged. "I'm not trying to trick anyone, I'm just saying. It's difficult to aim properly with a rifle on rapid fire and damn near impossible at such close range. It's only a matter of time and chance before one of these bolts that's even coming near me to come at just the right angle and me to put just the right spin on it for it come right back and blast you right in the middle of your greasy forehead."

The blaster fire continued and I stood there, deflecting and praying it was working. A few seconds later, the shots stopped. _Thank god_…

The Dark Jedi stared at me as he dropped his blaster rifle. "Very well. We will end this as Jedi with lightsabers." He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the ruby-red blade.

Now I had a new problem. I was absolutely exhausted from reflecting all those bolts and didn't have much strength left. _I don't think I could match his brute strength, even if I was at peak performance. What am I going to do now? The only thing I can do, I guess. Fight._

Wearily, I charged and we locked blades. A moment later he threw his weight into his blade and knocked me back and onto the ground. Hard. I continued to roll and slide until I hit the edge of the balcony. My vision blurred and as I got to a knee, facing the Dark Jedi, I saw three of him. Not knowing, who to swing at, I guessed and swung my blade at the one on the right, but my blade went right through him.

I felt a hand grab my arm and leg and before I knew it, I was in the air again. This time crashing into the side of the building on the other side of the balcony. Somehow, I kept managing to hold onto my lightsaber, but that meant very little. I tried to get back up to a knee but fell to the floor again.

I heard the hissing of the door opening. My hopes soared that it was Master Durron and Jacen. But they sunk again when I heard a different voice. The voice of a man say, "What's going on here?" Then the muffled sound of a struggle.

When I was finally able to raise my head and lift myself up from the ground. I saw the Dark Jedi with a firm grip on a Republic guard's neck. His arm completely folded over the man's neck, between his forearm and bicep. With a good strong twist, he could kill the man instantly. The guard was clearly in a lot of pain.

"As much fun as it has been to beat you senseless…I'm getting out of here. Anyone tries to stop me and the man dies."

I looked at this Dark Jedi. The pure absence of compassion and mercy. In its place were only darkness and arrogance and hatred. What I felt for this Dark Jedi was the closest I had felt to hatred in a long time. "You will not escape from this place. You will not kill that man. I'm taking him to safety. And you will not stop me."

The Dark Jedi laughed. "Have we not already found out who is stronger?"

I nodded. "Yes, we have. Nonetheless, you will not stop me. I will be taken as a hostage before I let you take him."

The Dark Jedi stopped smiling. He let go of the guard and threw him at my feet. "Very well. You will make a much better hostage to the Jedi."

We shared a glare for a moment before we both charged. We once again locked blades. But something different happened that time. As our blades locked together. The light of my blade got brighter and grew. It spread all the way down the hilt and over my arm down to my elbow. We both saw it and watched in awe as this was happening.

When we looked at each other again, he stared at me in open-mouthed horror. "The…Arm…"

Not knowing what else to do, I shoved my weight into my blade to shove him back, but that proved to be a mistake. The Dark Jedi launched into the air, higher even than when he threw me. He went high into the air and cleared the balcony. I heard his scream as he began the plunge down through the sky to the ground far below.

I just stood there in shock as the light on my arm faded away and back to the blade. I just stood there for what felt like an hour, but was probably only minutes. Standing there in shock with my lightsaber still ignited. I had no idea what to say. What to do. Even what to think.

Finally the door opened and I heard Master Skywalker's voice call out to me. "Ben? What happened? Where's the Dark Jedi?"

I snapped out of it enough to shut down my lightsaber, but not to turn around or speak. I heard Master Skywalker speaking to someone else. It must have been the guard. He probably just woke up to consciousness. I heard him explain what he knew. Then I heard Master Skywalker say what sounded like, "Why don't you go back to your station? We'll take care of everything else here."

Once I heard the footsteps of the guard leaving, I saw that Master Skywalker wasn't alone when he and Master Jade-Skywalker and Master Durron came into my view in front of me.

Master Skywalker repeated, "Ben? What happened?"

I looked at him and finally found my voice. "I…threw him…"

Master Skywalker asked, "You threw him? What do you mean?"

"We were right here. Blades locked. A light spread over my arm…"

Master Jade-Skywalker spoke up. "What do you mean a light spread over my arm?"

"I don't know. But he was suddenly scared. I shoved with my lightsaber and…"

Master Durron closed his eyes and nodded. "And he went down over the balcony."

Master Skywalker was clearly disappointed that they couldn't take him alive, but he dealt with it. "At least you're alive, Ben. Come on. We're going to send you back to the ship. You've had enough action for one day. The rest of us will inspect the body and the Senate is going to meet tomorrow to vote on going to war."

I nodded and let them guide me back through the corridors. I finally realized how much pain I was in and felt bruises all over my body. All the way back to the ship I was thinking about that light. _How did that happen? What was it? Could I ever do it again?_

By the time we made it back down the staircases, my aches and pains had gotten worse, so Jacen offered to help me out. He pulled my arm around his neck so that if my legs gave out, he could stop me from falling.

Once we were in the main lobby again, several reporters found us and circled us as we continued to walk, asking questions like if the attacks were perpetrated by the Dark Jedi, or how we thought this would affect the Senate vote. Master Skywalker simply replied that it was too early for them to know much of what happened and the public will know once the investigations are complete.

The events of what happened were spreading quickly. Everyone on our ship knew what happened by the time we got back.

Once we were inside, a large crowd of Jedi and students, who were huddled around a screen airing the news, turned to face us. Tallah broke through the group and let out a gasp when she saw what condition I was in.

It was nothing that terrible—some dried blood on my nose, a pink welt on my cheek, a lump on the back of my head—but I suppose the slightest bit of pain is too much to see in someone that you love. She hugged me and I assured her that there was nothing wrong that wouldn't heal within a day at most.

The rest of the Jedi team left again after speaking with other Jedi Masters on the ship. They went to continue the investigation, but they all wished me well and congratulated me on how I handled my fight with a fully trained Dark Jedi.

After they were gone, Guild and Ryndell hounded me for the details on how I beat the Dark Jedi. "I didn't exactly beat him. There were at least three or four times where he could have killed me. It was like he was just toying with me."

They seemed to refuse that response and dragged me over to the screen. My mouth dropped at what I saw.

Guild slapped me on the back and said, "You're a holo-vid star! They've been calling you a hero for close to an hour now!"

I just continued to stare at the screen. They had footage of my jump down to a platform with my lightsaber and block the blaster bolts away from the Senators. On the bottom of the screen, it said, "SNIPER SHOOTINGS AT SENATE HEARING – THWARTED BY JEDI HERO."

"This is crazy! I'm no hero! This is basic Jedi training stuff. Nothing heroic."

I quieted down so that I could hear the news reporter _"—to the efforts of the young, so far unnamed Jedi. This was a vote that was originally thought to not pass. But after today's events, looks as though it will be voted in favor of by a wide margin."_

Ryndell was delighted to hear that. "Those Dark Jedi really screwed up! They did the one thing to make the government unite with us."

I nodded and smiled at Tallah. "Well, if getting the crap beat out of me by a Dark Jedi helped get the vote passed, I'll consider that not a bad deal."

Tallah let out a noise that sounded to be a mixture of laugh and a stifled cry. She hugged me again and I returned the embrace. "There are far too many close calls with your life whenever we're separated."

We were interrupted by what was happening on the screen again. The news reporter came back on. _"This just in. We have received word that a climate droid recording weather patterns recorded the footage of our unnamed Jedi in the fight that killed the Dark Jedi. Without further delay, here it is."_

When we watched, we all saw a bird's eye view of my fight on the balcony. I winced and felt the pain again at being hurled into the air and crashing to the ground. With each fall and hit, I felt Tallah's grip in my hand get tighter. Every Jedi and student watching the footage let out a gasp when they saw the light come from my lightsaber and down my arm. Then as I shoved and threw him over high over the balcony.

Ryndell, still staring at the screen in open-mouthed awe, like everyone else asked, "How did you do that?"

I shrugged at the question. "I wish I knew."

When the footage ended, the news reporter was back. _"And there you have it. Clearly a very powerful young Jedi, indeed. Strength like this in one so young bears these questions: just who is this Jedi? And where does he come from?"_

I closed my eyes and thought about those questions. Smiling to myself, I thought, _oh the first question is easy enough to answer, but no one would ever believe the answer to the second. I have a hard time believing it sometimes. The real question for me is: where did that power come from? That must have something to do with my ending the war with the Dark Jedi._

Wearily, trying to keep my eyes open, I studied old records of the war at Geonosis. Alone, late at night, I sat in the dark library on board our ship. The haze of the computer and the Jedi Holocron nearby were all the light I needed. There was so little information known on record, I pretty much knew that I wasn't going to find what I needed there. That's why I had the Holocron.

I picked up the Holocron and placed it in front of me. As clearly as I could, I called, "Jedi Master Roshko Grimbete."

With the familiar haze and mist of last time, Master Grimbete's hologram appeared. "Greetings. What information do you desire?"

I cleared my throat and replied, "I am Ben, a Jedi Padawan. I would like to have as much information as you can give me about Master Sacul. Specifically, about the last battle with the Dark Jedi at Geonosis."

Master Grimbete's image paused for a moment, then flickered. The expression of his face turned from serious to almost wistful. "He was…dazzling. So strong. Such speed and precision with his lightsaber. We had all seen him fight on numerous occasions, but he was never like that."

"Was there…anything else different about that battle?"

Master Grimbete replied, "Yes. Somehow, it appeared that the light of his blade seemed to grow and surround his whole body. Curious, isn't it? But the Jedi Order later agreed that this had nothing to do with it. We concluded that it was merely a trick of light. And that his power must have come from knowing that this was to be the end of the war."

Feeling annoyed, I asked, "Why didn't you ever mention that to me before? When I was asking you about Master Sacul, how come you never bothered to tell me?"

Master Grimbete simply replied, "I am not real. I am a program that answers your questions. I cannot answer what you do not ask."

Conceding, I nodded. "Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"As I said before, we concluded that it was merely a trick of the light. We, therefore, have no extended theories."

I nodded again and replied, "Thank you, Master Grimbete. That's all I need." And with billowy flow of mist, he was gone. _Well, at least I know now that this light has something to do with it. It's the common link between us. But how do I use it? As long as I'm still at square one on how, everything else is pretty much irrelevant._ From not far behind me, I felt a presence. With a sigh, I called out, "It's late. You should be in bed."

"So should you. You've had a more exhausting day than I have."

"Even so, you should be sleeping."

"Maybe I'll sleep when you do. And anyways, the medical droid said that you would need your sleep. It will help heal your bruises and muscles sprains."

Reaching my left hand around my neck and touching my right shoulder blade, I felt the pancake-size bruise there and winced slightly. It hurt, but I'd been through worse. I turned my chair around and faced Tallah. "At the moment, I have more important things to worry about than sleep."

Walking closer to me, Tallah said, "You're not going to be much help to the Order if you're half asleep in a battle."

With a shrug, I replied, "I also won't be much help if I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing to end this war."

Tallah took a seat next to me and took my right hand in her's. "Tell me."

By this, she always meant for me to let out what I was thinking. She was pretty much my only outlet and if I didn't have that, I would have gone crazy long ago. "I just wish I had a better idea of what I'm supposed to be doing," I said with a touch of depression. "I'm no leader like Master Skywalker or a warrior like Master Jade-Skywalker. I'm not as open to the Force as Jacen or have a way with diplomacy like you…" I shook my head as I stared into my lap.

"I just wish I saw some more of what others see in me. I mean—I know I catch on to things quick, but it doesn't feel like I excel at one particular thing like everyone else seems to. I feel the power inside of me…but I have no idea how I'm supposed to use it. Or even how to release it."

"Perhaps it's not something you're supposed to study and research to find the answer. Perhaps it's something that you won't realize how to use until you have to. That's always been one of the things about you I've most been impressed with. How quickly things come to you when you need them."

"And what if it doesn't?"

Tallah stood up and pulled me from my chair. She put her arms around me and kissed my cheek. "Whatever the answer is, it won't be coming tonight. Let's go to bed."

I yawned and felt the drowsiness I had been fighting to control take over my body. I nodded and followed her to her quarters.

My eyes sprang open at the sound of cheering. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I sat up and got out of bed, putting my tunic on. I turned around and saw Tallah waking up. "Something's happened. By the sound of it, something good."

Tallah sat up and smiled. "Good. We haven't had anything to celebrate in a long time."

As I sat back down on the bed and pulled on my boots, I said, "Hurry up and get dressed so we can find out what's going on."

Tallah got up and starting dressing. "You go ahead and go. I'll catch up with you."

Nodding, I opened the door and headed down the hallway to the sound of the cheering.

Once I got into the main corridor of the ship, Guild and Ryndell ran up to me and shouted, "They did it! The Senate voted 94 in our favor!"

"Wow, 94 percent? How could things change that rapidly so quickly?"

Guild shrugged. "It must have been the attack. They say they voted for it out of the responsibility to help those who are 'weary from battle,' but I'll bet the real reason is because they're afraid of other attacks by Dark Jedi if they don't help us out in beating them back."

Tallah came in shortly and was filled in on the good news. Nearby I noticed that Master Skywalker and several other of the older Jedi didn't look quite as happy as everyone else. In fact, they looked almost grim. Someone finally asked, "Master Skywalker, what is it? The Senate is going to send New Republic troops to help in the war. This is a good thing, isn't it?"

Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, it's a relief that we'll have assistance, but something just doesn't seem right. This was just too easy."

"So the Dark Jedi screwed up! We were able to take advantage of that!"

Master Skywalker shook his head. "The Dark Jedi may be evil, but they're not stupid. They must have known that the Senate was considering joining the war. And they must have realized that this was exactly the kind of act that could insure their assistance."

Another Jedi asked, "What are you saying, Master Skywalker?"

Master Jade-Skywalker replied, "What he means is, why would the Dark Jedi be willing to risk a uniting of the Jedi and the New Republic? It sounds like maybe the Dark Jedi have more powerful weapons or a larger army than we have originally thought. This very well may have been exactly what they wanted to happen."

Laying in bed that night, I stared up at the ceiling. I felt tired, but didn't feel much like sleeping. I always had an overabundance of things on my mind, but there was much more than usual in the weeks that followed the Senate vote. More and more soldiers were gathering to meet at the Academy. The war was proceeding. Our army building. And I was still no closer to finding out what I was supposed to do.

Tallah rolled over on her side to face me. She whispered, "Can't you sleep?"

Continuing to stare up at the ceiling, I answered, "No."

Tallah sat up and pulled her hair out of her eyes. "You've barely slept in two weeks. Ever since the Senate vote."

"Just plenty on my mind. Nothing different or more than I've already told you."

"Well, if you're not sleeping and there's nothing new to tell me on your mind, then maybe you can tell me about something else."

"What's that?"

"About your family."

I sat up at that moment and looked at her. I hadn't been expecting that. I wasn't really sure how to answer her. And by the look on her face, she could tell what I was thinking.

"You're always so secretive about your past. Why haven't you ever mentioned them? What are they like? All I know about them is what you said the first day we met. That you moved around a lot."

I sat there with my mind racing. Trying to think of anything to tell her. Anything that could sound like the truth. But the only thing that came close was the real truth. And she'd never believe it. Using another angle, I spoke of the only family that I could think of that she'd accept. My ancestors. "Well…my family is of a race of people called the Celtics. Our families were more than just those of the same surname. Our families joined groups into clans and people of the same clan are very much considered to be family."

"What about your clan? What're they like?"

"My family is of a clan that was pretty well off. Many had lots of property, but were still not afraid to fight their own battles. My clan went through many hardships, but no matter what, we always managed to bounce back. I suppose that was the basis for our clan motto."

"What was it?"

"Our motto was Reviresco. That's an ancient language called Gaelic. It means, 'I flourish again.'"

"Fascinating."

Not knowing what else I could possibly tell her, I said, "I'm getting pretty tired. I think I could sleep now. Do you mind?"

Tallah shook her head. "No, I don't mind. I'm tired too."

We laid our heads back down on our pillows and with a kiss, I whispered, "good night."

That following morning my friends and I sat down to breakfast in the now full cafeteria. This was because of all the Republic soldiers. It was an adjustment going from having plenty of elbowroom at the Academy to having to compromise space everywhere we went.

Rubbing the weariness out of my eyes from lack of sleep, I took another bite of food and saw Guild and Ryndell wolfing down their breakfasts. I guessed that they were in a hurry to get down to the basement where the Training Center was.

Overhead the low thunder of a ship flew past and grew silent as it decelerated. Tallah leaned close by and said, "It must be another ship of soldiers and supplies. Come on, we should go welcome them."

I nodded and followed behind. Tallah was usually right about these kinds of things and I trusted her judgment. But when we got to the docking bay, there were no ships full of soldiers or supplies. It was a single ship about three times the size of an x-wing. The ramp was down and several senators stood proudly next to it. And along side them, more modestly dressed was an alien with what looked like a camera. The ship was—for lack of a better word—cool.

In fact, I had never seen a sleeker ship. Its metallic blue finish shined and reflected the sunlight coming through the docking bay hatchway. Master Skywalker and Master Jade-Skywalker were admiring it and when we got closer, I heard Master Jade-Skywalker saying, "This is a Starnova XL series. I've only just heard about these a couple of weeks ago. How did you come across one?"

One of the Senators—who looked strikingly familiar—stepped forward and replied, "This was one of the prototypes. In fact, the very first one that was capable of what they wanted. The nava-computer is immensely superior to anything else. It will get coordinates for the hyperdrive within mere seconds. Not to mention—" He stopped when he saw me approaching and charged forward, grasping one of my hands in both of his and shook it furiously. The alien picked up his camera and pointed it at the both of us.

The senator cleared his throat and spoke to the camera. "For the past two weeks, the Senate has been searching for some small way to repay this brave, young Jedi for single-handedly rescuing the lives of four senators from a Dark Jedi attack, including myself." It was then that I remembered him. He was one of the senators on the platform where I had deflected laser bolts. "Then pursuing the Dark Jedi on foot and insuring that he could never do it again in combat."

Surprised to hear that, I wanted to tell him that I was just lucky. I actually only encountered him because I was the only one to fall for his trap. And I only beat him because of some "power" that I haven't learned how to use. But before I could say any of this, the senator continued. "In attempt to repay the debt of our very lives to this Jedi, we give him the latest in starship technology: the XL Starnova."

My mouth dropped open in shock, as did Tallah's I noticed. But Master Skywalker and Master Jade-Skywalker didn't look so shocked. Either they were better able to hide their surprise than Tallah and I or they had suspected this.

Sputtering, I replied, "I…I can't accept this! I really didn't do that much. And better Jedi than me have done a lot more for the galaxy their whole lives. They deserve a ship like this more than I do."

The senator just smiled and laughed. Speaking to the camera again, he said, "Powerful and modest too. He is truly the beginning of the next great generation of Jedi. He'll probably take over for Master Skywalker someday."

My eyes widening again and my face burning with redness, I stuttered out, "What? No, it's far too soon to be talking about things like that! I could never hope to be as powerful a Jedi as Master Skywalker! I'm not even a real Jedi yet! I'm still learning!"

The senator continued to smile and shook his head. "A very humble Jedi. I think we can expect a lot from this young hero."

The alien with the camera lowered it down and spoke in some language I didn't understand. The senator asked, "how did it go? You think we got everything we need?"

The alien replied and the senator said, "Good. I thought so too." He looked back at me. "I hope you enjoy the ship. It was difficult to get our hands on it and I just hope that you can show the galaxy that you really are the hero that they've seen on the news."

His new attitude seemed almost an insult, but trying to ignore that, I simply smiled and shook his hand. "I'll do my best."

Master Skywalker invited the senator to stay for a meal, but he politely declined. "There is a lot to be done back on Coruscant with the Republic running a war now. I have to go back to make sure things are running smoothly."

I felt some anger stir in my stomach at that. Since when the hell was the Republic in control of this war? We asked them for assistance—not to take the reins. But I didn't say any of this. If the Masters could keep quiet at this guy's arrogance, then I should too.

After he had left, I walked closer to the ship and rubbed my hand over the hub, admiring its beauty. I turned around and faced Master Skywalker and Jade-Skywalker. "It's a beautiful ship, but what am I going to do with it? I don't even know how to fly one!"

Master Skywalker simply replied, "Well, now you have an opportunity to learn. Perhaps Ryndell could show you. She's a pretty good pilot, after all."

I frowned and said, "That aside, I still don't feel right about keeping this. Maybe I can donate it to the Academy. I'm sure there are plenty of Jedi around here who need a ship. Maybe we can keep it around for if someone needs to borrow a ship for a while, or something."

Master Jade-Skywalker smiled. "It's your ship and it's your decision. And I think that could be very helpful."

Thinking about it, I asked, "Why would the Senate be giving me this ship? I know I'm not the first person, let alone the first Jedi, to save a Senator's life. Why reward just me? Why now?"

Tallah, who had been pretty quiet up till now, walked up to me and said, "Probably because the news and the people have labeled you as a hero. To them, you're the next savior of the galaxy. Just like when Master Skywalker defeated the Sith."

Master Jade-Skywalker nodded. "Yes, that's the assumption that I'm making too. Ben, you're a Jedi with holo-footage of you in action, you're young, attractive. You fill a void in some people that hasn't been filled since before Anakin died."

"But…what does that all have to do with this ship?"

Master Skywalker said, "I assume because since the people have chosen you as a hero, then the Republic wants you to be _their_ hero. They want the people to see that they see you as a hero too. Or it's what the Senate wants them to think. They want the people to see them giving you a gift as thanks and make sure that they stay on the side of those that will vote to keep them in office."

I nodded as their words sunk in. "So they're just using me. To them, all I am is a political pawn to insure them another term as senator."

I stood among dozens and dozens of Jedi. Scattered here and there were soldiers of the Republic. A great open field surrounded all of us. A swarm of Dark Jedi were charging at us. We began our charge and as we clashed together, Jedi after Jedi—soldier after soldier fell to the ground. Some in pieces.

One after another, I hacked at the Dark Jedi. But no matter how many I killed, no matter how quickly they fell, more Jedi began to fall. More Dark Jedi were always there to replace those that had fallen.

One after another, I saw the bloody pained faces of my allies fall. Jacen fell. Ryndell. Guild. I fought with all of my might. One more Dark Jedi fell under my lightsaber and another. Another. But they came back around me.

We were surrounded in a tight circle. So few of us were left and Dark Jedi swarmed around us as far as the eye could see. Once more I lunged and fought. Using the Force, I brought up another lightsaber from a fallen Jedi into my left hand and swung with all of the power I could muster from my aching body. Fatigue was setting in but I endured. Two Dark Jedi would fall at once with my new fighting style, but it was never fast enough. Never good enough, we continued to lose more and more Jedi.

I saw Master Skywalker fall. Furiously, I used my mind to pick up more lightsabers and swung them at Dark Jedi with the Force. More and more lightsabers were swinging through the power of the Force as I fought on. But it was still not good enough. More lightsabers went into my power.

But just as it had always been, it was never good enough. Finally…Tallah fell. Her loss was the final pain. The lightsabers dropped to the ground. Raising my arms into the air and squeezing the lightsaber hilts until they exploded, I screamed at the top of my lungs, _"T A L L A H !"_

Everything went black when a scarlet-red lightsaber plunged into my chest…

Opening my eyes, I bolted upright in bed. My face was covered in sweat. Reality slowly flowed back into my mind. _A dream_…_that's all it was_…_just a dream._

To confirm it, I turned and looked down to see Tallah asleep next to me._ Just a dream. But not just a dream. This has to mean something. The Force must be trying to tell me something._

I got out of bed and got dressed. I didn't feel much like sleeping anymore and felt that a walk around the Academy might do me some good. As I walked down the corridors, smelling the clean air and the familiar musty smell of ancient stone that surrounded me, my thoughts went to my first days at the Academy. Back to the times when I had no idea why I was there. When I didn't know who I was. When I hadn't met Tallah.

In many ways, I had done a lot of growing between then and now. I even felt guilty for longing for those days once more when so much weight wasn't on my shoulders. When all I had to worry about was getting to class on time. I didn't have to worry about saving the Jedi. Saving the galaxy. Finding what connection I was supposed to have with the Force that apparently no other Jedi had.

I wished that I could go back to those times for just a few days. But I knew that even if I could, the memory and maturity that I had been burdened with now would go back with me. I guess that's what they mean when they say you can't go back home again. It means that you can never get the innocence of your childhood back once you've lost it.

Following the corridors to the lifts, I decided to go up to the highest level of the Academy and looks at the stars. Look at the scenery of Yavin IV.

When I got out of the lift, I was surprised to see Master Skywalker standing at the balcony. He turned around and saw me coming out. Neither one of us had been expecting any company up there. I guess we both had our guard down for a while. We hadn't spoken much since the mission on Ord Mantell.

Master Skywalker asked, "I suppose you couldn't sleep either?"

I nodded a little and replied, "I could for a little while. I'm always able to start sleeping. Then dreams wake me up and I can never fall asleep for the rest of the night."

"What kind of dreams?"

"It's never the same dream. But they all seem to have the same overall theme. I fight and fight and fight, but it never seems to do any good. Like this latest one I had tonight." I went into further detail of my dream. How much power I had at my fingertips and was doing things that I knew I could never do. But it never seemed to be enough. I still had to watch my friends die. "What do you think it means, Master?"

Master Skywalker's brow furrowed in contemplation. He let out a sigh and said, "It's difficult to say. Dreams can mean a lot of different things. And their meaning isn't always centered on the focal point of the dream. Your dream could mean that fighting will get us nowhere. It could mean that in order to win this war, we have to have a different strategy than the Dark Jedi. Or it could even really have no real meaning. It could be simply that you're worried about failure. Which can be a good thing. It shows you care."

I leaned over onto the railing at the edge of the balcony and looked up at the stars. I thought Master Skywalker's words for a long time. "I've already learned caring too much can be a real problem. I almost let it blind me from protecting my friends."

Master Skywalker leaned on the railing at my left and put an arm on my shoulder. "Teachers sometimes make mistakes too, Ben. The skill that you've shown us so quickly sometimes makes us forget that you're still young. You're still a student. Your actions on Ord Mantell were wrong. There's no disputing that. But my actions against you were wrong too. We are Jedi and have powers and see things in ways that others never will. But we're not perfect. And we make mistakes, because we're human. Jedi Masters make mistakes too. I've let you carry that burden and guilt of the disaster on Ord Mantell for too long already."

I was shocked at what I was hearing. I had never heard Master Skywalker admit wrongdoing on his part. To me, at least. I've never seen him do anything wrong. "I'd just like to put it all behind us. There's still so much I'm trying to find out. I still feel like I'm not getting any closer to finding out what I'm supposed to do. We may have Republic assistance in sending us troops, but I can't help but wonder if that's really going to help much. These are Dark Jedi. What we need are more Jedi."

"I'll let you in on the latest plans. Soon, the Jedi Order will be deciding on a group of Jedi to seek out the aid of more Force-users."

"More Force-users? There are us, the Dark Jedi, who's left?" After a thought, the realization burst in my brain. "Dathomir?"

Master Skywalker smiled and nodded. "The Witches of Dathomir. They may not be Jedi, but I'm sure they will recognize the dangers in the galaxy. I'm sure they'll fight alongside us."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. I couldn't explain it, but something about the Witches of Dathomir as allies just felt…_right._

Another meeting had been called in the Great Hall. But with a slight change, this time. It involved the Jedi and the Republic soldiers. The Great Hall which usually had a bit of elbowroom left when it was just us, now crammed in with people standing against walls and between aisles of benches.

The meeting had started with one of the generals speaking about one of the latest sightings of the Dark Jedi. "Our Intelligence has discovered that they have abandoned Ord Mantell. In fact, it really wasn't much of a base. It was a temporary haven for a small group to hold prisoners. However, our latest reports point to them having a much larger base that occupies roughly two hundred Dark Jedi. According to all of our data, this is their largest grouping of warriors in the galaxy. It's on a very remote planet called…" The general seemed to forget the name and had to look through his notes. "Oh, yes. The system is called Dagobah."

Not many people in the room seemed to react to this news. Master Skywalker, obviously. Master Jade-Skywalker too. Members of the Skywalker/Solo family. And my friends and I. It wasn't exactly very widespread knowledge that this was the planet where Master Skywalker had received his training as a Jedi by Master Yoda. But when I thought about it, it made sense. Dagobah was very remote. Out of the way of the more civilized systems. No real populations and no cities. But an abundance of life forms that would camouflage them from the Force. It wouldn't be difficult to hide there.

The general continued with his speech. "The Senate has discussed this and are in agreement with our military. A strategic military strike with our troops and the Jedi can seriously cripple their army and insure a victory of this war."

There was scattered talking among the Jedi for a while. Nearby Ryndell looked at us and said, "They want the Jedi to be a part of an attack? They must know that we don't condone such acts!"

Master Streen was the first to stand and address the general. "Excuse me, but are you seriously suggesting that the Order be a part of a military attack?"

The general nodded. "Yes. We are all aware that it is against your ideals, but this is not starting a fight. It has already been started. This is defense."

Another Jedi stood. "To 'think' that it is merely defensive attack is easy for you. But we do not have the luxury of being able to act without knowing and understanding its purpose. A single mistake can utterly destroy us from within!"

A younger officer, who appeared to be a Captain from the medals on his uniform stood up. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but he seemed to be surprised with himself for standing. He said, "But you must understand how critical this is. We need each other if this war is to be won. We may not have the Force, as you do. But we are still risking our lives. Just because we aren't Jedi, does that mean that we risk less?"

As I sat and listened to the young captain—I say young from comparison to his colleagues, he was certainly considerably older than I was—I grew more interested in his words. Maybe it was humbleness with how the Jedi needed the Republic and the Republic needed the Jedi. Maybe it was the way he didn't seem to feel superior to others. I don't know. What I could tell was that I liked him immediately.

When all was said and done, an agreement was made. Together, the Jedi Order and the soldiers of the New Republic would unite in an attack of the Dark Jedi on Dagobah. The strategic plans would be completed at a later meeting consisting of the military leaders and the members of the Jedi Council. So for me, this was going to be one more battle where lives would inevitably be ended while I search for the answer to end the war. Tallah would once more be at risk on the battlefield and the images of my nightmares continued to haunt me. Another battle where we would say our final good-byes to Guild and Ryndell…just in case.

Swooping into Dagobah's atmosphere in dozens of gunships from the giant ships we got there in, the Jedi and soldiers prepared themselves for battle mode. Though not in the same ways, of course. The soldiers flexed and bent their muscles—preparing their bodies. While we, Jedi took deep breaths and focused ourselves into the Force—preparing our minds.

The plan was to have each gunship with some Jedi and soldiers and strategically land on certain points of the planet in order to surround the location of the Dark Jedi base.

I had insured that Tallah and I would be on the same team. There were several Jedi in our team. Most of them, I was only vaguely aware of. The couple that I knew of were Tallah, of course, and Plook Rhendor. As the Jedi half of our team landed and reached the soggy swamp of Dagobah, we waited for the soldiers that would be accompanying us on our path to the Dark Jedi base.

When their ship landed and the ramp lowered to the ground, troops with large blaster rifles hanging by straps behind their backs began to file out. The captain was the last to come out. It was the very same young captain at the meeting that helped talk the Jedi into coming here to Dagobah.

While the soldiers began to prepare their weapons and check to make sure they had all of their gear, the Captain came over to greet us. He took Plook's hand first, who had been named the unspoken leader of our Jedi team. But it was surprising that the Captain seemed to know that. He bowed his head during his shake with Plook. "Hello Master Jedi. I'm Captain Wallace."

Plook mirrored the bow and responded, "Hello. I'm Plook Rhendor."

"So what's the plan for our trail to the Dark Jedi base?"

Plook pulled out a holo-disk that showed a hologram of Dagobah that zoomed in and focused on our coordinates of the planet. "On the way up to the base, we have an assigned area of the planet to inspect and search. To make sure we don't run into Dark Jedi and that they don't get a warning before we can reach the base. Three Jedi will go with half your team on one circle that will lead to the base and the other three Jedi will go with the other half of your team on a similar circle that will lead to the same point. We have 36 hours to both complete our circles and reach the point of rendezvous. At that point, all Jedi and Republic soldiers should be in one large circle around the base. Then we…" Plook was about to say 'attack' but couldn't bring himself to say it. He simply motioned with his hand, but we all knew what he meant.

Captain Wallace nodded. "Sounds good to me." He turned to one of his soldiers and said, "You take command over half of the crew and I'll take the other."

Tallah and I wound up in the same team with Plook and Captain Wallace. Our pace through the trail was a slow jog. Quick enough to get through our area on time, but slow enough to fully inspect our area. We, Jedi, jogged with our extinguished lightsabers in hand and the soldiers with rifles in hand. I was located at the back of the team, to insure we weren't snuck up on. Tallah jogged just in front of me.

Open to the Force, I sensed a presence enter my mind. A familiar mind. I could feel the same running through Tallah. We stopped and looked at each other, surprised. She looked worried and I welcomed her to it. I was mad. "You sense him too, don't you?"

Tallah nodded. "How did he manage to get all the way here?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. Let's ask him." I jogged back a little, while Tallah went forward to stop the team.

Stopping about twenty feet back, I called out, "Guild! Guild, come out! Tallah and I both found you in the Force! There's no point in hiding anymore!"

Several seconds later, Guild appeared behind me. We met face to face and I could feel myself glaring at him. "What are you doing here?"

Guild simply shrugged. "I'm tired of this kiddie table crap. I have just as much reason to fight as all of you."

Before I could respond, the rest of the team appeared, with Plook and Captain Wallace in the lead. They stopped the team in their tracks a ways back and continued towards us. Plook asked Guild, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"That if I've been able to trail all of you for this long without you knowing, then I'm a lot more ready than Master Skywalker will admit."

Plook closed his eyes and bit down on his irritation before speaking again. "That's _not_ a call for you to make. What if something were to happen to you? We never would have known."

Speaking up, I asked, "Is it just you or did Ryndell come too?"

"She stayed behind. So that if something happened to me, there'd be someone to inform the Order. I'm not an idiot."

Captain Wallace asked, "Just how were you able to get all the way here on a ship full of Jedi without them knowing?"

Guild shrugged and looked a little nervous. "Well…I didn't stow away on the Jedi ship. Because I knew they'd find me. I stowed away on _yours_. Whenever a soldier got a hint of me, it wasn't too difficult to persuade them that they hadn't seen anything."

Plook sighed. "I'm sorry for Guild, Captain. Now…how are we going to get him back to the ship?"

Clearing my throat, I looked at Plook and said, "We don't have that kind of time, Plook. He's going to have to come with us."

Plook, angered turned to me and replied, "I am not taking a student into a war who has not been deemed ready by Master Skywalker."

Wearily, I held up my hands and said, "Plook, we're seven hours out from our ship. Taking him back would take seven hours and then another seven to get us back to where we already are right now. With the time we've already used, that would eat up over twenty of our thirty-six given hours. Which means that it would take three quarters of our time to be less than a fifth of our way to the rendezvous point. If you have any other ideas, I'd personally love to hear them."

Plook appeared as if he knew I was right. "How is he going to fight? He isn't even armed."

Captain Wallace pulled a blaster pistol from his holster and said, "Here. Take my pistol. It's not a lightsaber, but at least you can defend yourself."

Guild took the blaster. "Thanks."

Plook clapped his hands once. "All right. We've wasted far too much time already. We have to get moving. Now."

As the team continued back on our path, I grabbed Guild's shoulder and gave him a push in front of me. "Stay next to Tallah and in front of me."

Guild turned back to face me. "Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing. Just worry about yourself."

_I wish I could. But I can't._

Dawn had come. We had finished our paths and united again with the rest of our team. And after we explained about Guild, which didn't go as smoothly as anyone would have liked, we continued our pathway to the Dark Jedi base. And as the sun rose, we made it.

Everyone sat and pulled out some provisions. Some got out their water. Others ration bars. Plook was studying his compass and time device. Finally, he said, "We have about one hour before it's time for us to move in on the base."

Sitting back and taking in a big gulp of water, I handed it to Tallah, who took a similar drink. Nearby, Guild was taking a large bite of his ration bar and took another bite after only a couple of chews on his last bite. Clearly hungry.

"Take it easy, Guild," I said. "We're going to be moving a whole lot soon and having a full stomach like that will slow you down."

Guild looked at me and nodded. He began to chew more slowly and took smaller bites.

Tallah asked, "Why did you come here, Guild? You're not that far from completion of a lot of your classes. Why couldn't you just wait another couple of months for Master Skywalker to say that you were ready for this and get your lightsaber?"

Guild shrugged. "Two months? Two months till I get approved for making my lightsaber. Two and a half months until I have a completed lightsaber. It'd be at least another month until I'm approved for being good enough with a lightsaber to start on simple things like supplies shipping into war zones. Another month or two before being approved to fight in battle. That's six months, at least. The war could be over by then."

I shook my head. "We can only hope. War is something that you fight in if you must. Not something a Jedi is supposed to be eager to jump into."

"Don't give me that crap. I'm not anxious about fighting and killing. But I want to do my part. I'm sick of seeing things from the sidelines, watching the Jedi die one by one and not being able to do anything. That's worse than being hacked to pieces." Guild looked down at his half-eaten ration bar and muttered, "That's something you used to understand."

I set my water on the ground and folded my arms. "What do you expect, Guild? War changes you. It's changed the way I look at things. For anyone who fights in battle, our toil is a gift of hope to all who don't fight. The hope that they will never have to fight for the things we must. When I fight or Tallah or even Master Skywalker—when we fight, it's for the hope that you and Tallah and all the rest of the students at Yavin will never have to. With every Dark Jedi I strike down, I think to myself that that's one enemy that you will never have to fight."

Guild sat there silent for a long time. I was sure that I had convinced him. We sat and drank and ate in silence for the remainder of the hour. When it was up, Plook called out to us, "Everyone, it's time. We make our move on the Dark Jedi base."

Slowly, all the Jedi and Republic soldiers encircled the base with a circumference of about 250 feet. As we crawled along the wet jungle, I couldn't help but imagine myself in a warm, soft bed. Once we had reached the end of the mass of trees, we stopped. A large area had been cleared out to make way for the base and to remove any chance of hiding.

But before we could even make our attack, there was an explosion. A large one. And it existed completely within the Force. All of the Jedi clutched at their chests and we all fell to the ground. Completely seduced by the pain that ran its way through all of our bodies. And that was all the time the Dark Jedi needed. In those few seconds, a group of snipers from atop the Dark Jedi based appeared and fired lasers down upon most of the Republic soldiers. About three quarters of them were wiped out in those three seconds.

Once we had gotten back to our feet, things only got worse. Large doors opened to the base and well over a hundred Dark Jedi charged through, ready for combat. Ready.

_They knew we were coming._

We followed their charge in return. Thanking the fact that many were so much taller than Tallah and me, we were able to get in below their defenses and take them down. They were excellently trained, but the flaw in their training showed that they were prepared for much larger Jedi than us. Keeping an eye on Guild, I saw that he was already losing. His clothes had already begun to get tattered from near misses with blades.

Because of only having his blaster pistol and combat knife, he was forced to only shoot at Dark Jedi pre-occupied and use his knife to try and keep other Dark Jedi at bay. Soon I realized that one of them was going after him and would not stop his charge. As the Dark Jedi ran past me, I yelled for Tallah to watch my back as I put my lightsaber blade into the shoulder blade of the charging Dark Jedi.

His face fell at Guild's feet and he looked up at me in surprise and shock.

"You need to keep a better eye on your surroundings, Guild."

"I'm doing the best I can with what weapons I have."

Using the Force to bring a fallen lightsaber to my hand, I tossed it to Guild. "Here. Now watch after yourself."

Going back to Tallah's side, we went into a back-to-back defense. I fought all behind me and I fought all behind her. But no matter how well we did, there was one undeniable fact: we were losing terribly in an outnumbered battle. Through a soft word of mouth during the battle to all of the Jedi, we began a slow retreat back into the jungle to rendezvous with our ships.

When Tallah and I saw our chance for our break out, we took it. Guild was locked with a Dark Jedi who had him pinned against a tree. Tallah pierced her blade into his back, being careful to not go through and stab Guild. And I arced my blade and took off the Dark Jedi's head. His body crumpled to the ground.

"Come on, Guild. We're retreating." I began to run.

Guild shouted, "Never!" And tried to continue with the battle.

Tallah grabbed him and yanked him back to the jungle. "To stay here is death!"

Running through the jungle, trying to keep an eye on my com-link guiding me to where the ships will be, I needed to keep myself open to the Force to feel for any Dark Jedi in pursuit of us.

Behind me, I heard Tallah ask Guild, "Is your shoulder all right?"

"It hurts some, but nothing too serious. A sprain, maybe."

Ahead of me, I saw the ships in the distance. "There they are! The Jedi and remaining soldiers are re-grouping for takeoff! Hurry!"

We got to the ships and we stopped for a moment to breath. I told Tallah to go ahead and go in. I saw that Captain Wallace was all right and wanted to speak with him. Guild said he wanted to stay.

Approaching Captain Wallace, I nodded a hello, he also looked very grim. It was a clear loss to the Jedi and the Republic. "Do we know what our final losses were yet?"

Captain Wallace shook his head. "No definite numbers, but we estimate that roughly three quarters of the Republic soldiers are dead or wounded. About one third of the Jedi are wounded or dead."

My chest ached at the losses we had gone through so quickly. But new things took its place when a bolt whizzed through the air and blasted into Captain Wallace's soldier. Catching him before he fell, I lowered him to the ground. He was in shock of the wound. "Hey! Captain Wallace was shot! Someone help! Guild! Help me!"

Just as some soldiers and a couple of Jedi ran down the ramp of one of the couple ships still on the ground, Guild pointed into the jungle and said, "There he is! There's the Dark Jedi who shot Captain Wallace!" He ignited the lightsaber still in his hand and charged.

In panic, I ran after him and tried to stop him. "Guild! Wait, no! Come back! You don't know how many are out there!"

I reached him and tackled him to the ground in time for a shower of blaster bolts to fly just above our heads. As they stopped, a circle of Dark Jedi formed around us. Hearing thrusters roaring, I looked up in the sky…

…just in time to see the last of the ships flying above us.

Strapped into a gurney, eyes covered, ears blocked, and mouth gagged, I had no idea what it was they were doing to me. I could only feel it. Pain surged up and down my legs. Then through my arms. It felt as if they were cutting into my body, but I felt no blood coming through wounds.

I wasn't able to keep track of how many days were going by. I was isolated away from sunlight. Finally, I was allowed to see, hear, and speak. When the gurney was risen up, I could see that five Dark Jedi stood in the room. One looking vaguely familiar.

None spoke for a while, so I decided to also keep quiet. Looking around, I saw my lightsaber sitting on a table with other instruments that I could only guess were other torturing devices. Staring at my lightsaber, I thought about bringing it to me, but that would have been a useless gesture. Even if I managed to get it past five Dark Jedi and somehow free myself, I'd never be able to beat them all.

The familiar Dark Jedi picked up my lightsaber and walked up to me. A look on his face told me that he knew what I wanted to do. But also that I knew I'd never be able to do it. When he was a few inches from me, he asked, "Who are you?"

Staring at the floor, I simply replied, "I'm a Jedi."

The Dark Jedi laughed. "Are the Jedi now in the practice of sending boys to fight their wars?"

The rest of the Dark Jedi laughed with him. It was at this time that another Dark Jedi entered the room. He looked different from the others. He was old. Very old. He had long white hair and a white beard and mustache that looked as if it hadn't been trimmed in months.

The Dark Jedi who had been talking to me referred to the old Dark Jedi and said, "You have no reason to be here Aysno."

Aysno replied, "That decision isn't for you to make Killon. What is known so far?"

"Nothing more than we already do." Turning back to me Killon asked, "Why would the Jedi bring someone so young with them to battle? Why would they trust someone who is merely a child with a lightsaber?"

Studying my lightsaber he hit the ignition switch and the blade came to life. Killon raised his eyebrows with interest at the white blade. As did several of the other Dark Jedi in the room.

Only Aysno reacted more than the others. "The…the white blade! Do you know who this boy is!"

Killon turned to face Aysno. "Few Dark Jedi believe your old myths, Aysno. Go to the ones who do believe. It would be a wonderful scary story before bedtime."

"Open your eyes! We are at war. The prophecy says that another will return to the Jedi for war. And here is a boy that the Jedi feel necessary to bring to battle…and he has a white-bladed lightsaber. Just as the first did. Do you call this coincidence?"

"Yes, I do!" He looked back at me and said, "Do you believe you are this Arm? If so, prove it. Break yourself free, take your lightsaber from my hand and strike us all down."

I didn't know what to do at that. Or what to say. So I did nothing and just stared at the floor.

Killon turned to face Aysno. "You see? He is simply a weak, pathetic boy." He turned to face the other Dark Jedi. "Take him back to his cell."

After I was flung back into my cell and picked myself up off the floor, Guild was drug back into the cell too. But he was unconscious. He had fewer bruises and wounds, but looked frazzled. Glaring at the Dark Jedi, I yelled, "What did you do to him?"

The Dark Jedi ignored me as they left us alone. I picked up Guild and laid him down on the bed. They only gave us one bed for the two of us. My guess was that it was to try and create some animosity between us and get us fighting each other, instead of working together. _Well they won't succeed at that._

Thankfully, I had gone through some lessons on Force healing. I wasn't a Force healer by any real definition, but at least I knew enough to help Guild re-center and come to. I placed my hand over his forehead and searched through his mind and found an imbalance. After taking care of that, Guild's eyes twitched and he woke up. He was about to sit up, but I stopped him. "Just lay back for a while."

Guild obeyed and sighed in exhaustion. "Have they been…torturing you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. What kind of questions have they been asking you?"

It was several seconds of thought and Guild looked puzzled. "Questions? …They never asked me anything. Just…started with the torture."

Speechless for a time, I finally responded, "Why would they do that?"

"Because they have no need of you." Turning around, Guild and I saw the old Dark Jedi Aysno standing in front of the cell. "It has already been deduced that you are the one that holds information. So the other is being tortured until the time when it is decided he will be put to death."

"That's not going to happen!"

Aysno nodded. "You're correct. It will not happen. Not while I live. And most especially while you still live." Suddenly, Aysno kneeled to the floor. "I knew that you would return to us once more."

Shocked, I stood up. Guild sat up on the bed, equally shocked. I walked up to the cell and looked down at Aysno. "Are you…are you a Jedi?"

Aysno looked up at me and smiled. "No. I am not. But I am not a Dark Jedi. Not anymore. It has been nearly twenty years since I turned away from the dark side."

"But why didn't you leave? Why didn't you come back to Coruscant or the Jedi?"

"What good would it have done? How do you think the galaxy would have responded to a Dark Jedi who had allegedly changed his ways? What good could I have done by turning my back on the Dark Jedi and not keeping my eyes open to what they planned to do? No, I knew the best thing for me to do was to stay. To hope I would live for the war to begin again. And to pray that I would cross paths with the Second Arm."

"But then why did you try to out me to the rest of them if you didn't want me harmed?"

"Because I knew they would not believe me. They know of the legends passed down, but they no longer believe them. But they would have found it suspicious if I did not say anything. I have waited long for this and planned long for it. To pass on the knowledge that I could."

"You…you have things you can teach me?"

"Teach? No. But there are things I can tell you that the Dark Jedi have discovered. Things to guide you to what gifts you already possess in your heart."

"Like what?"

"I am the sole holder of the prophecy carried down through the generations after the defeat in the first war. Tell me, what do you know of the Light of your Blade?"

"Not too long ago a light passed over my lightsaber and into my arm! It gave me power that I haven't been able to use since! Can you tell me how it works?"

"Shh! Just hold on. I will tell you when I have time."

Going through interrogation that was mostly torture took a majority of my days. I had not seen Aysno since the first time he revealed the truth of himself to Guild and me. We were also put through sleep depravation, so it began to grow difficult to know when one day ended and another began.

As I was going through another interrogation, Killon continued to pin me on giving him all the information I could. And as usual, I refused. "I'm not…telling you…anything. Hurt me all you want, but you can't make me talk."

"Hmm. Such devotion. Commendable. But if you think your friends are as devoted as you, you are very much mistaken. You have been abandoned, Jedi. No one is coming for you and your friend."

"You're lying! The Jedi will never give up!"

"When did I say anything about the Jedi? I am referring to your soldiers of your pathetic Republic."

Stuttering for something to say, I simply asked, "What are you talking about?"

Killon turned his head to another Dark Jedi in the room. "Turn on the holo-vid. Show him what has been happening since the failed Jedi attack of our base."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It felt as if my stomach had turned into cold stone. Plastered all over the news were things like,

'_Jedi blunders cause hundreds of soldier lives.'_

'_Poor Jedi intelligence reason for disaster on Dagobah.'_

'_Senate attacks stunt by Jedi to sway vote?'_

"No!"

A news announcer began to speak. _"The latest Jedi attack on the Dark Jedi caused severe casualties. Many Senators site this disaster as the reason for pulling all Republic service in the Jedi's war."_

"NO!"

Killon smiled. "Yes. As you can see, your friends will not be coming for you. I suggest that you do as we say. Because to not, will make for a very unpleasant stay. Which will last until around…when we decide to kill you." He turned to face the guards. "Take him back to his cell. Let him think about everything. And take the Holo-vid. Let him watch as we slowly crush the Jedi Order."

Watch as it happened, was all that I could do. The news continued to talk about the latest tragedies. In slowly, brutally long detail. At one point in the news, it was mentioned that the Witches of Dathomir had united with the Jedi. But I was only able to piece that together because of their news announcement about 'wild cult women from an unstable planet' had been seen with the Jedi.

Despair had begun to consume Guild and I. We knew of nothing to bring us any comfort. Until Aysno finally appeared again. He talked with Guild and me and taught me some of the things the Dark Jedi had passed down. Some of it began to make some sense. But one thing above all.

"What I am about to share with you," Aysno whispered, "is the most important thing I can. It is the prophecy that was passed down after their first defeat from the Arm. Here is what they say.

"_A temporary thing, this peace shall lay;_

_The Sun shall set, Darkness shall consume Day._

_The Dark Jedi will return to do great harm—_

_But our return means the return of the Arm._

"_Divided, the galaxy must be to win this fight;_

_For only unity shall bring the Power of Light._

_If a bond of Light—Darkness—and Men is made,_

_This shall open the power of the Arm's blade._

"_If unleashed, the Arm will make bones rattle;_

_Do not waste bodies in senseless, open battle._

_Once seen, do not hesitate—Get out of there!_

_Become as one into Dark Force matter._

"_Do not question the power of His might,_

_Or fall victim to the strength of the Light."_

I sat quietly and let his words absorb in my head. "So that's what allowed the light to spread over my arm on Coruscant! The presence of myself, the Dark Jedi, and the man I was saving!"

"Yes."

Guild spoke up then. "But wait. If that's what it takes, then why didn't the blade open up in the battle? There were Dark Jedi, Jedi, and men at that battle, right?"

Confused, I looked back at Aysno and said, "Yeah, that's right. How come it didn't happen then?"

"An excellent question." After some thought, he asked, "Tell me, when you were fighting that single Dark Jedi on Coruscant, what was your state of mind?"

"I don't know. Calm, I guess. Prepared for anything."

"I see. How about you tell me the truth now? There is no shame in admitting that you wanted to kill him."

"I guess a little." I saw the look on Aysno's face and saw that he continued to frown. "All right! I wanted to kill him! I saw the twistedness in his eyes and how much pleasure he got out of hurting people. And I wanted to make sure that he would never do it again. That's what I was thinking."

"And was that how you felt during the battle here on Dagobah?"

I shook my head. "No. I was back in my calm, centered state."

"Then perhaps that's the key. To use the power of the Arm, you must return to that state of mind for battle."

"But how am I going to do that? Even with this knowledge, it doesn't change the fact that the war's out there and Guild and I are stuck in here."

As anyone would imagine, I remained skeptical of Aysno for quite some time. But as time went on, I began to place more trust in him. As I learned and learned, and saw the horrors of what was happening in the war, I finally came to understand one thing. No one was coming for us.

It was late one night when I realized this and woke up Guild. "We have to escape."

I couldn't plan anything without knowing more about the base, but fortunately, Aysno was immensely helpful in showing me sketches of the layout of the base and the entrances and exits.

After studying them for a couple of weeks, I had found our way out. Not exactly perfect, but it could work. Many things could go wrong in the process but there was no other way.

After realizing that they were going to get no information out of us, the Dark Jedi had turned Guild and I into slave labor. Forcing us to haul shipments of supplies from their docking bay to other places in the base. And if they discovered us using the Force to help, the penalty would make it not even worth it to take the risk.

On a very early morning, we were waiting in the docking bay for a Dark Jedi pilot to land with more cargo. It was very cold that morning and in a rare moment of graciousness, they gave Guild and I a pair of black cloaks to keep us warm. They were too big for us and had the smell of death on them, but we didn't complain. Finally he landed and came out of the ship. He was not that much older or bigger than either Guild or me, but armed with a lightsaber made him more than a match for either of us. He also wore his black cloak over his head, covering most of his face to look more intimidating.

While Guild and I both carried large boxes down a corridor with the Dark Jedi behind and keeping a close eye on both of us, it came time to put our plan into action. I gave a slight nod to Guild and took a deep breath. No turning back now.

Guild and I both launched our boxes over our heads at the Dark Jedi, who pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it to block the boxes from crashing into him. This distraction was all the time I needed. A quick fist to the chest just above his heart knocked the wind out of him and with a Force shove, he crashed against a wall.

Guild dropped a smoking detonator made for us by Aysno. In the blinding smoke, Guild and I knew that we'd only have a few seconds…

The alarms had gone off and Dark Jedi had run in pursuit to find out what was going on. Through the slowly billowing away smoke, the Dark Jedi staggered out of the smoke and grunted out, "Quick, the Jedi are getting away." The rest of them all ran for the exit and found us running through the swamp away from the base.

It was only a matter of seconds before they were upon us. It was Killon who caught up with me and grabbed me by the neck, hurling me into a tree. As I tried to pick myself up from the ground, I was kicked in the stomach and picked up again, pinning me against the tree.

Killon pulled my hood down and was furious. "Did you really think that you would get away from us?" He turned his head towards other Dark Jedi. "Did you catch the other one?"

They came up holding onto a thrashing cloaked body, with a muffling voice coming from the hood. Killon smiled and looked back at me. As he pulled the hood off of myself. He was confused to find me smiling as well. "What is so funny?"

Smirking, I nodded over at the other Jedi. Killon pulled the hood down to reveal the face not of Guild, but of the Dark Jedi with his mouth gagged and at closer inspection, also had his hands bound together in front of him.

Killon seized at me and put a hand over my neck. "Where is your friend?"

I just continued to smirk and didn't answer. Eventually the answer came to him. He pulled his com-link from his belt and shouted into it, "Do not let Tonzo leave! Do you hear me? Do NOT let him take off!"

"_He's just taken off, Killon. Ran right into the docking bay and got ready for take off. Said the cargo was destroyed and he needed to go."_

"It's not him! It's the Jedi! Get the cannons and shoot him down!"

Looking into the sky, I saw the ship flying through the atmosphere and weaving around green blasts showering through the sky. Finally, the ship disappeared into hyperspace.

Smiling content, I knew that Guild was safe. At least someone could go free.

Killon turned to me and stared. His face so close to mine that our noses nearly touched. "You may have one this battle, little Jedi. But now you shall pay dearly for it."

I had thought that the treatment Guild and I had gone through couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. Very wrong. It was that very night where my sleep depravation was upped a couple of levels. After a couple hours of sleep, electric shock would awake me. They were very good at allowing me just enough sleep to be able to keep me going and have strength to continue doing my slave labor, but not enough for me to be able to retaliate.

I had 24-hour a day surveillance so it was impossible for me to have any time to speak with Aysno. I didn't even know what happened to him, since he couldn't risk meetings anymore. He could've been murderer for all I knew.

At the end of day, I would be so tired I literally had to be dragged back to my cell. Fortunately, this didn't last long. It was only a few days before Killon pulled me out of my bed and heard him say, "Up, Jedi. We're going on a trip."

I didn't even want to know where.

Visions of what Killon was talking about ran through my mind. Of being dragged to a cliff to be thrown off. Of being drowned in a swamp. Of standing in front of dozens of Dark Jedi with blaster rifles. Whatever it was, I was sure that my death was imminent.

Imagine my surprise, when I was dragged into the docking bay, which was full of spaceships and Dark Jedi running around and into the ships. I was led into one of them and into the back where a cell was waiting for me.

When I was locked up, Killon and the two other Dark Jedi turned around and began to exit. Risking a few words, I asked, "Where are you taking me?"

Two of the Dark Jedi ignored me and continued leaving. Killon stopped and turned around to face me. His smile had me very worried. "We're taking you home, Jedi. I'm sure you miss your friends. With the Jedi crippled and the government abandoning them, they are ripe for a full-scale attack. You will get to witness in full view the final fall of the Jedi Order."

"Greater powers than you have tried! Master Skywalker could wipe you out without even trying!"

Killon laughed and shook his head. "The greatest weakness of a Jedi. Entirely too much faith in your friends."

As he left, I hollered after him, "I've heard that before!"

Hours had passed by in my cage. It was a rare opportunity for me to get some real sleep and I wanted to take it. Though many things were running through my mind about the battle that must be taking place, my exhaustion had taken over. I was awoken by a voice. The voice of Aysno.

"Hello Ben. How've you been enjoying your first real sleep in a week?"

I opened my eyes and sat up. By the change of lighting in the ship, I had guessed that it was night. "What's happened? What's going on so far?"

Aysno shook his head. "I cannot say for sure or not. I'm too old to be allowed into direct combat. I stay behind and maintain communications. But I know that the Temple was attacked fiercely and the Jedi had little warning. There are nearly a thousand Dark Jedi remaining and every one of them is now on Yavin IV. A missile was dropped onto it that has, by all we can tell, not killed any Jedi but has broken apart the entrance and caved it in."

"So what do we do now?"

"You wait here while I retrieve several things for you."

He wasn't gone long before the ship rattled from a loud explosion. A few Dark Jedi ran into the ship; their clothes tattered and burned and looking tired and disheveled. One of them shouted, "Get the Jedi! They'll back off if they see him!"

Alarms flared in my brain and I dived to the ground into a corner of the cage only moments before a large hole blew on the other side of the ship. Through the billowing smoke, Master Jade-Skywalker and a Dathomir Witch ran through with lightsaber and spear and charged the Dark Jedi. Master Jade-Skywalker shouted, "Get Ben and get him out of here!"

Tallah followed close behind and ignited her lightsaber to cut open the door. If only there was the time, I would have hugged her tightly and never let go. Tallah pulled the door open and quickly said, "Follow me. We have a rendezvous in the jungle waiting for us."

As we jumped from the ship and into the jungle, we were met by Killon. We were both surprised, but I noticed something more from Tallah. I felt a cold fear from her.

Killon smiled. "We meet again, little girl."

Confused, I asked Tallah, "How do you know him?"

But Tallah was too frozen to answer me. After looking back and forth between them I looked back at Killon quickly. "Now I remember you."

"I was wondering how long it would take you. It appears that you made a much bigger on me than I did for you. It's not every day that I'm defeated by a mere student of the Force."

"Well…sorry I can't say the same for Dark Jedi killing innocent children."

"You cost me a lot, Jedi. I was on my way to becoming a leader among our order. Until you humiliated me. My masters found me useless after that. That I owed my continued life to the mercy of a mere padawan. I was ordered to lead the Dagobah base. A smelling, stinking bog. Now…you will die. Take this."

Killon tossed me a lightsaber. A Dark Jedi lightsaber. Anything but my own felt so alien. I looked to Tallah. "Make me a promise."

Tallah simply replied, "Name it."

"Do not interfere. If anything happens get back to the rendezvous."

Tallah nodded. I ignited the lightsaber—red, as I figured—and began my charge. Killon was better and stronger than I remembered. His last defeat had clearly given him motivation to train harder and longer in the months since then. My clearer and closer touch with the Force meant little. Killon was just stronger than I was. Just faster. Just better.

I, once again, began to prepare myself for death. It made no surprise to me when my lightsaber blew up in my hands as Killon's blade went through the hilt. It made no surprise to me that I was knocked to my feet only an eye-blink later. It made no surprise to me as I saw Killon's blade slowly start to come down. Only two things surprised me.

The sound of a lightsaber igniting. And the sight of a white lightsaber blade sticking out of Killon's chest. As the lightsaber extinguished, the stunned look on Killon's face faded and his body fell.

As his body, Aysno came into view. "Aysno!" I got to my feet to thank him. And noticed that he was covered in blood. "What…what happened to you?"

"I was…caught retrieving your lightsaber. You'll need it."

Tallah came running to me and clung to me. "Who is this?"

"This is Aysno. He's a former Dark Jedi. And if it weren't for him, I never would've been able to get Guild away."

Aysno knelt to the ground. Then he slowly fell to the ground. "This…is it, Ben. You must fulfill your destiny. Open the blade and become the Arm." He handed me my lightsaber and I gratefully took it. "I place my hopes on you." His eyes fluttered shut and he gave one final breath before his life faded away.

The familiar ache in my stomach returned. "Another person giving their life for me."

Running through the jungle, Tallah filled me in on all that she could about the war that I didn't know.

When we reached the rendezvous, I was greeted by many Jedi who, if under different situations, would have been celebrating. For a few blissful moments, the war had faded away. Tallah, Guild, Ryndell, and I all together in. We hugged and had a last happy laugh that we were all okay and safe. But soon reality began to slip back.

It wasn't long before Master Skywalker ordered us to all begin retreat back to the Academy. And prepare for further battle.

It was just before dawn when we all—Jedi and Witches of Dathomir—made it back through the jungles of Yavin and back to the Jedi Academy. With the main entrance blown apart and blocked by huge rocks, we ran around to the other side and into the docking bay.

Everyone was exhausted. Despair hung over many like a cold, wet shroud. The Dark Jedi would know where we went. They would come for us. And everyone knew it.

Between breaths, Master Durron asked, "What…should we do…Master Skywalker?"

Master Skywalker looked at everyone. He had clearly already decided what must be done. "We wait here. We take as much rest as we can. Then when the Dark Jedi come…we meet them head-on." There was a silent surprise to almost all that were there to hear Master Skywalker speak like this. "If this is to be the end of our Order…if this is to be an end to all who serve the Light…then let this also be the end of all who serve the Dark. This will be the end of all Force-users. An apocalypse of the Force."

A Witch of Dathomir looked up at Master Skywalker from her sitting position and asked, "Can we defeat so many with so few?"

I could tell that Master Skywalker didn't know. But he said, "Yes, we can. And we will. Because we have to."

Tallah looked at me and I could see that fear filled her eyes. She hugged me and rested her head on my shoulder. _This won't do it. This isn't enough to bring the power of the Arm. We have the Light and we will be fighting the Dark. We will charge and I'll be in the correct set of mind. We have all the pieces but one: those who are blind to the Force. Normal men. If only the Republic hadn't pulled its troops so soon. Damn them!_

We all gathered near the large entrance of the docking bay, waiting. Nearly three hundred of us about to take on almost a thousand Dark Jedi. With rows and rows of us standing with lightsabers in hands of Jedi and spears or blasters in the hands of the Witches. Master Skywalker stood in the front center. Ready to lead the charge to the end of everything.

Until we saw something flying through the sky. A large ship. It wasn't a ship used by the Dark Jedi. And it wasn't a ship used in the armies of the Republic. It came for the entrance to the docking bay. Not knowing quite what to do, we split in half and allowed the ship through to land. It's not like we could do a whole lot, plus we didn't know who was inside.

It wasn't until the ship's ramp lowered and people started exiting that my heart jumped into my throat. _Soldiers of the Republic! The Senate brought them back!_

More and more soldiers began filing out of the ship. All of them were heavily armed. Pistol blasters at their hips and blaster rifles in their hands. Once they were all out their leader slipped through the ranks: Captain Wallace.

Master Skywalker got through all of us and met him. "What is this?"

Captain Wallace smiled as he pulled a hologram disc from his pocket and turned it on. A small hologram of Chief of State Cal Omas appeared. _"Hello Master Skywalker. I am sorry for how our Senate voted in pulling our troops from the war. There is only so much I can do and the Senate has the final word. All I could do was find the soldiers who wanted to be here. I only wish I could come, but an old politician like me would accomplish very little on a battlefield. I'm needed here. _

"_These soldiers remain loyal to the Jedi. It is the most that I am capable of doing on my own. And if the Senate knew, could likely have me removed from office. But I would rather be a citizen of a galaxy in peace than a leader in time of the tyranny of evil. You have my greatest respect, Master Skywalker."_ His message ended, the hologram faded away.

Captain Wallace put the disc back into his pocket. "Our army swore to fight for as long as this war existed. We have simply come to honor that oath. We do not come here as soldiers of the Republic. We come here only as men. Men who remember the tyranny of the Empire and what it was like to be ruled by a Master of the Sith."

Then all of the soldiers took off their uniformed tops and dropped them to the floor. The medals that were pinned to them made the sounds of chimes as 200 men put aside their ranks. Their rewarded accomplishments and took their places next to all of us.

I felt a stirring in my stomach. A flash in my mind. This was it. I knew it was. I ran to Master Skywalker. "Master Skywalker! This is it! This is the moment! This is when I fulfill my destiny! I know it!"

Before he could answer, a deep rush of cold went through all who could feel it. The Dark Jedi were near. Master Skywalker looked at me and put a hand on each of my shoulders. "Ben…are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. All things are how they should be. This is the moment."

Master Skywalker nodded once. "Very well." We all got back into ranks and I was about to get into my place when Master Skywalker stopped me. "Lead us."

I turned around and face him. "What? Me? Lead us into battle?"

"Yes. This is your time. It was my destiny to bring the Jedi Order back from the dead. It is your destiny to preserve it."

As Master Skywalker guided me to the center of the front row and took a place to the right of me, another deep rush came over me. It wasn't a new sense of power or wisdom. It was serenity.

Serenity, even as we saw the Dark Jedi appear on the horizon. The red aura of their lightsabers created the illusion that, from this distance, their whole bodies shined with the red.

I turned around and faced the Jedi, the Witches, and the soldiers. I ignited my lightsaber and held it high over my head. Bringing in a full lung of air, I shouted as loud as I could, "To the end!"

With that, I turned back around to face the jungle. And began to charge. Everyone came charging behind me. I ran through the open field on Yavin IV to what could likely be my death. _Death smiles on us all. All we can do is smile back._ So I did. Until…

I noticed the light of my blade began to throb and shimmer. Then the Light grew. The Light began to run down my arm. Around my torso and up my other arm. I felt the Light run down my legs and up over my head. All over my body. When there was nowhere else for the Light to spread, it began to run itself _through_ my body.

I heard voices behind me say:

"What…what's happening to him? What's going on?"

"It's happening! The blade is opening! He has become the Arm!"

Once the Light had gone completely through me, the Light grew and grew. Until we were only about fifty feet from the Dark Jedi, who stopped in their tracks at the Light surrounding my body. They began to shield their eyes with their arms…

Finally I was within a few arms length and heard a powerful yell escape my lips. I swung my blade in a horizontal arc. And just before it made contact with the first Dark Jedi, I felt an implosion through my body and a bright sphere of light surrounded my body. I kept charging and swung my blade again. And again. I saw the pieces of bodies of Dark Jedi flying up into air over and over again. Other Jedi brought down the Dark Jedi blinded by the Light. The rest of the Jedi didn't seem to be affected by the Light.

Men brought down Dark Jedi with their blasters. Sometimes a Dark Jedi would be able to deflect the bolts, but another Jedi would practically always be there to deflect it right back onto another unsuspecting Dark Jedi.

As the battle raged on, there seemed to be no great challenge for me. I was fighting opponents that I already saw myself kill moments before.

I didn't realize it was over until I swung my blade and saw that Master Skywalker deflected it. I didn't even realize that my eyes were closed until I opened them again. I panted heavy, looking at Master Skywalker in confusion.

He smiled. "It's over, Ben. The battle is over."

I extinguished my lightsaber and looked around. All that remained standing were us. Hundreds of Dark Jedi bodies lay on the ground. Some were whole. Others were hacked to pieces. Some had spears sticking up through their bodies.

Tallah ran to my side and hugged me joyously. "We did it! It's really over!"

I returned the hug, equally as happy…until I felt it. The final step in my destiny. "Yes. For you, the war is over." I let go and looked into her eyes. "But for me, it's just beginning."

Tallah looked at me questioningly. So did all of the Jedi within earshot of me. I turned and looked around at all of them. "I can feel them. The Dark Jedi are attempting the same thing as thousands of years ago."

A few moments later, with a deep rush, I could tell that they all felt it too. We looked up into the sky and say what appeared to be a dark, fluid moon that was getting larger and larger just above the red sun that was rising over the horizon.

All Jedi, all Witches knew what it was. We all thought the same thing: _Dark Force energy._

I knew that it was my destiny to stop it. To prevent it from colliding with the planet and ending it all in one phenomenally sized kamikaze mission. I stepped forward and raised a hand. Closed my eyes and began to shove…

Seconds passed. Minutes…I felt the muscles all throughout my body flexing. My jaw tightening. My eyes clenching. No matter how hard I tried, my power was not great enough to stop them. I could feel that they were so close, the energy created a solar eclipse over Yavin IV. "I…I can't…stop them! There's…too many of them!"

I raised my other hand and somehow found more energy in my body to stop them. But nothing worked. _What's wrong? Why isn't this working!_ "They must…be using more Dark Jedi…learned from last time…can't…do it!"

A hand touched my shoulder. I didn't need my eyes to tell me who it was. _Tallah? What are you doing?_

_I'm giving my power to you, Ben, such as it is. We'll do it together._

_Tallah, no. I'm supposed to do this on my own._

Another hand touched my other shoulder. This time, it was Master Skywalker. _They learned from last time and so shall we. You have my power, Ben._

I felt a shudder through the Force as more power flowed through me. Other voices came to me as well.

Guild—_Yeah, me too._

Ryndell—_And mine._

Jacen—_And you have mine, too._

Voices continued to come. And so did power. The Jedi and Witches of Dathomir, one after another, created a chain channeling all power through one another until it all reached its common goal: through me.

As the power of all Jedi ran through me, I saw the universe in a way that I didn't know was possible. I saw life in its most basic forms. I saw through my surroundings until all I saw were the molecules that they were made of. Then through the molecules to atoms and then to cells. Finally, I saw through the cells into life at its most basic form. What all things must have in order to live. I saw the midichlorians.

The power of all life was at my fingertips. If I wished, I could have ripped apart atoms. Created new life, destroyed all life. Even rip open the planets of Yavin. Complete power of all things was there. But I had more important things to deal with. Stopping the Dark Jedi from bringing the end of all things.

Soon, I felt the wave stop as it began to enter Yavin IV's atmosphere. It stopped dead in its tracks. And as quickly as it started towards us, it began to move away from us back into space. "It's working! We're shoving them away from the planet!"

We shoved until they were nothing but a speck in the sky to us. That was when our forged chain of power ended. There was no celebration this time. Because we all knew it wasn't over. One more thing had to be done. Just one. And only one could do it. We all knew that too.

I turned around to face everyone still standing. It was difficult to let go, but I knew that this was what had to be done. Still, I had to say my good-byes. I looked at Jacen and walked up to him. I took my hand in his and shook. "Thank you for being a guiding light for me, Jacen. You gave me wisdom at times, I never expected. And things I didn't know I needed until you gave them to me." Jacen returned my smile and nodded.

Ryndell and Guild were further away, but I hurried to their side. I hugged Ryndell and said, "We all know that you still have many lessons to learn before you become a Jedi Knight, but I know that you will pass them all. Thank you for being a friend. You taught me to have fun, even when I learn."

Ryndell suppressed a sob, and then tried to turn it into a grin. "Should I get a violin to play?"

Laughing, I continued. "I want you to have the ship that the Senate gave me as a gift for saving their lives. You'll get more use out of it than anyone else, I'm sure."

I turned my head to face Guild, standing right next to her. I shook his hand and said, "You were my best friend here, Guild. And my first real friend ever. Thank you. And on top of that, you were always there to keep me on my toes. I know you'll be a powerful Jedi Knight soon."

Guild, struggling to keep from crying, only said, "You were my best friend, too."

Smiling, I told him, "The final word will be for Master Skywalker, but when you are ready for your lightsaber, I want you to use this." I unclipped my lightsaber from my belt and handed it to him. "Here. I'm putting it in your trust. May you have little need of it."

He took the lightsaber shocked, but grateful.

Almost done, I approached Master Skywalker. I shook his hand in a tight grip. "Thank you, Master Skywalker. I was honored to have you as my teacher. You taught me so much about so many things: the Force, the Jedi, life. You're one of the main reasons that I'm not the person I was before."

Master Skywalker's jaw line flexed as he smiled. "The honor…was _mine_, Ben."

Finally, it was Tallah and I. We hugged each other tightly and I never wanted to let go. I pulled back and we kissed. Still in each other's arms, I whispered, "I love you, Tallah. I never understood or believed in love until I discovered it between us. You taught me what love really is. All of the strength I have in the world is because of you."

As tears slowly rolled down both of our faces, she looked into my eyes and said, "You don't have to do this! We can find another way to defeat them! I'm not ready to say good-bye yet…I love you."

"And I love you. That's why I must do this. There is no other way. And no amount of denial can change that. I won't have you live your life in a universe of darkness and hatred and pain. A universe where the Dark Jedi rule. I love you far too much for that." She nodded and we kissed once more. One last time. I looked into her eyes and as my good-bye to her, said, "I wouldn't trade our time together for anything. My time here is at an end, but yours isn't. You must live on. Find another to love."

With that, I turned around and walked away from the Jedi Order. I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes. Searching for the way to fight the Dark Jedi…

Concentrating through the Force, I tried to figure how to fight the Dark Force energy. In the entire history of the Jedi Order, this had only been done one other time. And no one knew how Master Sacul did it.

Feeling nervous, I searched my mind for the answer. But I couldn't find it. _It must be here! This is why I came! Why else would the Force bring me here if it wasn't?_

At that last thought, it began to come clear. The answer did not reside within me. Neither did the ability. I could not stop the Dark Force energy. Only one thing could: the power of the Light Side of the Force. To think myself capable of beating the Dark Side of the Force was arrogant. For me to use the Light Side of the Force to try and beat the Dark Side would not work. The Light Side of the Force must use me!

With several calming breaths, I brought myself open to the Force. Not to use the Force. But to give myself up to it. New power began to rise in me. Power of the Force surged through me like it never had before. The cost of this power was relinquishing self-command. And allowing the Force to make my decisions for me. I was merely the shell through which the Light Side acted.

I felt my body become lighter. Almost as if I were floating. I felt everywhere, yet nowhere all at once. I was not merely lighter, but I became light. With a final surge, I felt myself lunge forward with uncanny speed and agility. The jungles of Yavin far behind, I saw only blackness with millions of tiny lights in the distance.

A darkness of another kind began to appear far ahead. It got larger as I got closer. Much larger. I felt the coldness of the Dark Side spread over me, but not faze me. I wouldn't let it. The collision of the two Force energies was like the collision of a beach ball with a golf ball. Except neither bounced off the other, but began to fuse and meld together.

Pain began to surge through me. I had no body left to be hurt, but what remained could be in pain as much as anything else: my mind. I felt the red-hot pain of energies trying to break through me to continue its way to Yavin, but unable to do so. I continued to take the pain.

But something happened then. Something I did not expect. The pain dissolved. Instead of bouncing off of me and hitting once more, the energies would hit and slide harmlessly from me. The darkness did not become the light and the light did not become darkness. We melded into something new. Something I couldn't describe.

I felt the desperation grow among the Dark Jedi joined in the Dark Force energy. They tried to communicate to me._ **DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP US? YOU ARE HOPELESSY OUTNUMBERED. YOU CANNOT WIN!**_

_That's funny. I seem to be winning right now!_

**_IF WE DIE_…_THEN SO DO YOU!_**

_Sounds like a good trade off to me! One Jedi's life in exchange for the defeat of the Dark Jedi!_

I felt a sound that could only be described as a growl._ **THE DARK JEDI WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED! WE WILL RESTORE OUR STRENGTH! WE WILL RETURN ONCE MORE!**_

All of a sudden, Dark Force energy stopped coming at me. I soon saw why: there was nothing left to absorb. One final step laid before me. And then it would be over. _I know you will return again some day. Because the Dark Side will always find new followers. War is an inevitability. Peace is always temporary. But when you return_…_so will another Arm of the Force!_

With that, I released the power I had absorbed onto the new energy we had become. There was a deep, ominous shudder in the Force as everything caught fire and a super nova erupted in space. My task complete, the universe faded around me. And a new one took its place. This one was nothingness.

I spent either seconds or eons with my eyes closed. When I opened them again, I was surrounded by a beautiful, lush green meadow. The sky was blue and nearby, there was a clear gentle stream that went off into the distance into a high mountain, surrounded by dozens of smaller ones.

I looked down at myself and saw that I was kneeling on a single knee. I also noticed that my body didn't look in focus. More of a haze. Not like a spirit, because there was no blue light. I could almost see through myself. _Where am I? Is this the Netherworld?_

But I soon saw that this wasn't possible. Nearby were dozens of Jedi. All of the ones that I knew and some I didn't. The Witches of Dathomir were also present. And many officers and soldiers of the New Republic's forces. Their heads were all down and Master Skywalker stood in front of them all.

Doing his best to keep his composure, he stood straight and tall. "We are here today to mourn the losses of not only Jedi, but all people that lost their lives to bring an end to the Dark Jedi. We lost many lives, including one very gifted student. Ben was the most dedicated, loyal, and brightest student that I ever had the pleasure to teach. Who knows what he might have accomplished if given time to grow to his full potential?

"But as has happened to so many of our brightest students, he met his end still in his youth. It is the greatest tragedy of any war. The young perish on the battlefield, while the aged linger on. As a final gift for his sacrifice, through the fires and chaos of the explosion through the Force, came this world." Master Skywalker lifted his arms and motioned all around him. "This planet is the fruit of Ben's knowledge, power, and compassion."

I looked up and all around in awe. "This? I created this?"

As I looked around, I saw my closest friends standing nearby. Tallah's face was red with streaked tears. My heart ached as I saw her in that much pain. I walked to her and tried to comfort her, but I knew that they couldn't see or hear me. So I just stood in front of her and looked into her eyes, knowing that she couldn't look into mine.

Master Skywalker continued. "This world is a gift through the Force. A new haven for all who shall need a home. The New Republic has allowed us to keep this planet and name it ourselves."

Tallah raised her head and a thoughtful look grew in her eyes before she looked to Master Skywalker and said, "Reviresco." Everyone looked at her. Tallah repeated it. "Reviresco. I believe Ben would want us to name it Reviresco."

Master Skywalker asked, "What does it mean?"

"I remember not long ago, he told me about that. It's from an ancient language called Gaelic. It's a motto of his family and it means, 'I flourish again.'"

There was a murmur through the crowd of Jedi and Witches of Dathomir that seemed very positive. They all agreed. Master Skywalker nodded. "That's very appropriate. The Reviresco system."

I smiled and reached out to touch Tallah's cheek one last time. Even if she wouldn't realize it was there. But before my hand could reach, the world began to fade away from me. Nothing was around me and I was once again surrounded by black. This time my eyes were open.

I called out, "What is this? Where am I?" When I got no response from that, I shouted as loud as I could, _"Answer me!"_

"A place between worlds this is," a voice behind me said. "somewhere and nowhere you are, it would seem."

I recognized the voice, but was surprised when I turned and saw who was there. "Yoda? Master Yoda?"

"Yes. It is I."

"So…you were the one who brought me here?"

"No. Responsible for that I was not."

Frustrated, I asked, "Then…then who was it that brought me here?"

"If looking for the one responsible you are, look into your reflection all you must do."

A coldness grew in my heart. "Are you saying that I brought myself here?" Master Yoda nodded. "No. No, I can't accept that! It was me all along? How? How could I have done that without knowing it?"

"A complicated thing the mind is. Many things happen within the mind that we never realize. Unhappy you were in your world, were you? Understand life there, you did not? Correct? So brought yourself to a world where things make sense your mind did. Now, learned these lessons you have, yes?"

"So if it was all in my mind, then it was like a dream? It never really happened? I was never in any real danger?"

"Danger? Of course! If die here, so would your mind! Live without your mind you cannot. Heard of people dying in their sleep, have you not?"

"So I brought myself through this journey in order to learn things that I couldn't learn in my own world. Things didn't make sense to me, so I took myself to a place where I did understand things. The Star Wars universe." I looked around and another thought made sense now. "And I suppose this blackness is my subconscious, right?"

"Yes. Now complete the journey is. A choice you have. Two doorways through to conscious mind again. Back into your old life, one door will lead. Like you never left it will be. The other leads to the Netherworld. For saving the Jedi Order, open to you that door is. However, no knowledge of ever living in your own world will you keep. On their side, come into your room to wake you up, your mother will. And find that you have entered into a permanent coma."

After a couple of seconds of thought, I said, "I'd like to go to the Netherworld."

Master Yoda sighed and looked down. Shaking his head, he asked, "So terrible was your old life that death you would choose here over life there?"

I looked down and felt myself on the verge of tears. "You don't understand. In my world, I'd be nothing again. I'd have nothing. In the Netherworld, I would be a Jedi. I would be somebody. I could wait for Tallah to come back to my side. And…the Force would still be with me."

"Ben, define for me what the Force is."

Taken back, I replied, "The Force is the energy field that gives a Jedi their power."

Master Yoda shook his head. "What the Force does, that is. Answer for me what the Force is. Where it comes from."

"The Force comes from all living things. All living things come from the Force. It's what binds things together. Wherever there's life…" It was then that I caught on.

Master Yoda nodded and finished my sentence "…there is the Force. As long as you live and are true to yourself and the ways of the Jedi, the Force will be with you."

I nodded and sighed. I then made likely the hardest decision of my life. I closed my eyes and could barely get the words out. "I choose to live in my own world."

Master Yoda smiled and nodded once. He raised his hand and waved, whispering, "Remember…for as long as you live, the Force will always be with you." I was once again swallowed by the nothingness.

I opened my eyes and sat up. It felt ancient, but at the same time very familiar. I was back in my own world. My heart froze and my head fell. I barely had enough strength to lift it up again. _Well, back to my old life. Going from the hero of an entire galaxy to being the target of loser bums in high school._

I got up out of bed grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them on. Then I picked up a plain white t-shirt, but putting it on was a bit difficult for some reason. Once it was finally on, I bent over to pick up some socks and heard a rip. I looked down and saw that the seams on the right sleeve of my shirt had ripped. _What the hell_…

After I peeled off the shirt, I saw what the problem was. It was too small for me now. I looked into my mirror and saw that I was no longer skinny, but muscular. _All of the muscle I had put on over there, I brought with me back here!_

I fumbled around through my dresser and found a sleeveless t-shirt. That way I wouldn't have to worry about ripping sleeves. After I finished getting ready for school, I grabbed my books and headed outside.

School was only a mile or so away, so I went ahead and ran. It was much easier now. After running for miles through Yavin IV every morning, this was nothing. As I walked through the crowded hallways, I no longer felt intimidated. The times of walking around with my head down were over. Actually, I had spent so long at the Academy with perfect posture, that walking with my head down hurt anyway.

The hallways of school looked the way things usually did on Friday mornings. People running around, laughing, planning their weekends. Not far away, I saw Matt getting books knocked out of his hands and the guys who did it, laughed as they ran off. Matt knelt down and started to re-gather his things.

I remembered that happening to me so recently, and yet so long ago. And realized something else. It was time for me to live in this world. And I would need friends. I saw so much of my old self in Matt. He just needed someone to approach him. And now, I was the kind of person capable of that.

I walked up to him and helped him pick up his papers and books. I handed them to him with a smile. He seemed surprised by the help. Even though he knew I wasn't like the guys who had teased him, I could tell that he was unsure on if he could trust me.

Keeping my smile, I helped him to his feet and said, "Gotta feel sorry for people with such simple minds, that they find amusement in gravity, right?"

A smile finally crept over Matt's face and he replied, "Yeah, I guess."

"So, you have anything planned this weekend?"

Matt shrugged, and then shook his head. "Not really."

He seemed about ready to say something else, but stopped. So I continued. "I was thinking about seeing the new movie with the Episode III trailer before it. You want to join me?"

Matt, shocked by my question, answered, "Uh…yeah. Okay."

I smiled and said, "Great. I've got some other business I have to take care of here after school, but it shouldn't take long. You want to wait for me outside the North wing exit when school's over?"

Matt smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that." He turned around to leave, but stopped and turned around. "I'll see later."

"Yeah. See you later."

Since my last class for the day was study hall, I got permission to go to another classroom. I walked into the classroom where I took Algebra and saw my teacher sitting at her desk, grading papers alone. I gently knocked on the doorframe a few times and she looked up at me. "Hi. I was wondering if I could talk to you."

She nodded and said, "Come in."

I took a seat in front of her desk and said, "I'd like to take the test I missed from yesterday."

"My decision is final, Ben."

I nodded and replied, "I understand that I was punished for a reason. The way I talked back to you was unacceptable and for that, I'm very sorry. But I really don't think that the punishment reflects the crime in this situation. I've always done what's expected of me in this class. I always turn in my homework on time, I do well on the exams, and I think my track record for this class can speak for itself on that. I've never been a troublemaker in this class and this one incident, although wrong, shouldn't have that much of an impact on my final grade. That's very unfair."

My teacher was silent for a moment and said, "I've been finishing up grading the tests to put into the grade book. If you take the test, it would have to be right now."

"That's fine. I'm ready right now." She handed me a copy of the test and I pulled out a pencil and began solving the problems. I smiled as I finished the first one. _After helping to negotiate an entire Senate to go to war, negotiating with a teacher isn't too difficult._

After I had finished the test, which I knew I had aced, I went to my locker and gathered my books for homework that night. I began to walk down the quiet, empty hallway, nearing the exit. _Master Yoda was right. Being in their world for a time, has made living here easier. Still_…_if only I could use the Force. _Suddenly, I felt a tingling in my chest and a flare in my mind. I recognized a presence. _Josh_…

I heard his voice begin to say, "Hey Star Wars boy! Where's your lightsaber?" And I felt his hands get a hold of my books and begin to shove.

The anger began to flood my brain, but I remembered what I had been taught all that year. I remembered Dagobah and Tallah guiding me to the truth. Josh didn't anger me. I was angry with myself and my own insecurities. And I had already released them. I had passed this test long ago.

As my books left my hand and began to fall to the floor, I heard myself whisper, "No." I reached out with my hand and the books stopped in mid-air. I turned my wrist so that my palm was up and with a motion of my fingers, the books reversed and went back into my hand, just as if they had never left.

I turned around and faced Josh. The picture perfect of calm. No anger or fury. No cockiness or arrogance. Just a small smile on my face that let him know that I was ready for confrontation. "I don't wish to fight you, Josh. But if a fight is what you really want, go ahead and make your move. I'll be ready."

Josh just stood there in open-mouthed horror and what he had just seen me do. We stood there in silence for a few seconds more. Then without another word or change of expression, Josh turned around and began to walk away.

My expression changed to a smile of contentment as I also turned around and began to walk for the doors leading outside. Knowing that I would never have to deal with Josh again. That I had now faced my true demons in real life and came out victorious.

Within my head, I heard a voice. The voice of Master Yoda say, "Now…a Jedi Knight, you are."

THE END


End file.
